Your Black friends are tired

As an artivist, I have yet to garner an artistic response to how I'm feeling. With all that’s going on right now, the impact hits different this time, and the pain is still very raw. It's been difficult to put into words this kind of frustration but I'm going to try. I'm praying for those that struggling like myself, and I shout along with those that say ”Stop Killing Us”!!!

And by us, I mean Black men and women that look like me. That look like my husband and my boys. It's disheartening to know how my ancestors helped to build this nation on their backs, and yet somehow their grand children are still getting treated worse than dogs.

I didn't choose to be Black but I definitely won't apologize for it. I love who I am, but this week I realized this country has never really loved me. Let's face it Black people have been oppressed in this country for far too long. Yet we keep giving of ourselves to a nation that never really appreciated us, and only sought to profit off of us.

So if we seem a little angry know that this is not a drill. You are correct. We ARE furious! Pain changes you. Watching your brothers and sisters get slaughtered constantly by those that swore to protect them has that affect. But we are also still fighters. Carrying a resilience that lingers in our soul, and we will never give up or lose hope. They will not break us!

I definitely can't speak for everyone, but for me protesting as normal is not an option. We tried talking and they ignored us. We tried protesting and they mocked us. We tried kneeling and they took our jobs. We even tried trusting. Thinking that once the men and women that committed these acts we're locked up they would be found guilty, and serve the time they deserved, but each time we've been disappointed. At this point, enough is enough! We want new systems implemented. We want leaders in this country that are going to fight for Black issues. We are tired of being discriminated against and thrown away with the trash. Not only do we want harsher punishments for police officers that kill unarmed men and women, but for systematic racism to be eliminated at every level.

Why are so many of our brothers and sisters dying during this COVID epidemic? Why aren't our inner-city kids getting the same education as rural America? Why aren't more jobs available in low-income areas? Why are Black women and men getting paid less to do the same job as their White cohorts? Why are we spending millions of dollars on prisons, but doing little to nothing about the mental health issues that are plaguing our brothers and sisters? These are the issues we need to address, and until we do nothing is going to change.

It's not okay for those with privilege to sit idly by and do nothing anymore. Those days are long gone. We demand they step up and speak out. If they want our business, desire our partnerships, or value our dollar then they need to pick a side. Injustice for some of us should be a problem for all of us.