Maybe you’re numb and weary with grief, anger, and frustration. Maybe you know you have no idea what it might be like to be Black right now, with these horrific killings being broadcast everywhere, debated dramatically, dismissed, like a sports team trade, or the finale of Game Of Thrones. Maybe you’re scared of your family, friends, and colleagues giving you shit or unfriending you for posting too much ‘political’ stuff. Maybe you don’t know what to say when people tell you hashtag activism is bullshit, or that noisy, traffic-stopping protests don’t do any good anyway and what about the broken windows and burned buildings, or that race isn’t real and it’s actually talking about racism that divides us, or that ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬ is really what’s racist and ‪#‎AllLivesMatter‬ and ‪#‎BlueLivesMatter‬ and ‪#‎OneLove‬, or what about Black-on-Black crime, or why were they resisting, or that kid shouldn’t have had a toy gun in the park anyway and where were his parents and with the little red tip removed what was the policeman supposed to do, or you can’t talk about what a policeman should or shouldn’t do because when they’re out there protecting you they might be fearing for their lives and their right to kill is more important than you. But fuck all that, because maybe there’s a Black human being in your friendship circle, in your workplace, on your social network, and maybe that person is feeling isolated and lonely in ways you can never imagine when this shit keeps happening and it’s crickets, and maybe seeing even one White person speak up and offer support will do even the littlest bit of good on their unimaginably shitty morning, that one White person that didn’t seem to care about the generational effects of slavery and Jim Crow and segregation and schools-to-prisons and all the murders before this one. Maybe it’ll be nice for them to see you trying, maybe it’ll open up a place of safety for them and a new relationship for both of you. Maybe you can take even a little bit of weight off of their tired shoulders when countless other White people find countless ways to dismiss the concerns of Black people trying to express their overwhelm and sorrow and fury. Maybe you’ll start thinking about how we got here, and how White Supremacy has helped you, and hurt someone else. Maybe you’ll start talking with your friends and family and workplace and community about how we might start really fixing it. Maybe you realize it actually feels good to try and talk about it, even and especially the horrifying, overwhelming stuff. Maybe the fatigue is soothed some when your friends take the same chance, and all the energy going to grief, anger, and frustration turns to a sense of unity and purpose. Maybe you end up going to the rallies and protests, and maybe you find out they’re powerful and effective and celebratory and fun, and maybe you find that your world has gotten a little wider. Maybe Black people feel a little less abandoned and afraid and angry, and maybe White people stop suffocating on shame that has spoiled into denial and fear and silence, and maybe we make it through together. Maybe.

#BlackLivesMatter
‪#‎EndWhiteSupremacy‬
‪#‎SpeakUp‬