We Are Not A Threat

If you have never thought to save your receipts everywhere you go just in case you are wrongly accused of something for being black, you’re privileged. My dad keeps his receipts from everywhere he goes JUST IN CASE. No white man has to worry about this on any given day, let alone everyday just being a black man in America.

If you run for exercise freely with no fear, you’re privileged. My big brother is afraid to go on a run now because he lives in a predominantly white neighborhood in Washington.

If you have ever shown anger to a police officer for getting a speeding ticket or failing to turn on a signal, you’re privileged. I & my family have had to talk to my younger brothers and teach them to keep their hands visible & narrate every single movement if they ever get pulled over for a routine traffic stop because they don’t have the luxury of showing frustration without being considered a threat — a lesson my older brother & I learned from our dad as little kids.

The last time I got pulled over for a routine traffic stop in my predominantly white neighborhood, my hair was natural, which shows my “blackness” to the average white man, the officer had his hand on his gun the entire time. It was my first time experiencing that & for the first time, I was genuinely afraid to even move. I sat there obediently, narrated my movement like I was taught to until he let me go. I cried the whole way home.

My beautiful brown & black brothers & dad are my entire world. They are all a George Floyd. I constantly tell them I love them and to be careful because I know the world they are walking into when they leave the house.

Enough is enough. We are outraged. We are tired. We are worthy. We deserve the same rights as anyone else. #blacklivesmatter