Good Luck

A few years ago, in response to another Black person being killed by the police, I said we had a responsibility to bear witness, a duty to not look away.

A year ago, in response to another Black person being killed by the police, I said we can all only bear so much and we have to take turns carrying that burden.

A few moments ago, in response to another Black person being killed by the police, it occurred to me that there are not enough people and there is not enough space to hold all of Black pain and Black trauma.

If each of us picked just one atrocity to hold, just one kidnapped ancestor, just one person who jumped from a slave ship and drowned, just one person whose name and heritage were stolen, just one person raped, just one person whipped, just one person in shackles, just one person whose child was snatched from their arms, just one person starved, just one person lynched, just one person whose town was bombed and destroyed, just one person who was beaten, just one person attacked by German shepherds, just one person who a firehose was turned on, just one person spit on at a lunch counter, just one person not allowed to drink from a fountain or sit on a bus, just one person denied a education or a job, just one person who someone wouldn’t rent to or sell to, just one person not promoted or fired, just one person who had to stand in line 7 hours to vote, just one person followed around in a store, just on person pulled over for no reason, just one person sent to prison for doing what other people get probation for, just one person who had evidence planted on them, just one person who police lied about, just one person shot for resisting, just one person shot for walking away, just one person shot while sleeping in their bed, just one person choked for selling loose cigarette, just one person shot for buying skittles, just one person shot while playing video games with their nephew, just one person shot 21 times for holding a wallet, just one person asphyxiated for possibly using a fake bill, just one person shot because of an air freshener, we would run out of people to bear witness before we ran out of trauma. And it would overflow like rivers of blood onto the street and it would paint this whole country red.

I guess it has.

Now in response to another Black person being killed by the police, I have no advice other than bear what you can, be safe and good luck.