love. love. and more love.
I went to bed last night angry that Alton Sterling was murdered so viciously. I woke up angrier to hear people trying to use the fact that Alton Sterling went to jail as a viable reason for him to be murdered. I grew sadder to hear Philando Castile was murdered. I felt depressed to learn that he was shot in front of his 4-year old daughter and girlfriend..
I fear there is no escape from all of this. No where to provide for our families, to live happily, and to just be brown unapologetically. It scares me that my father, brothers, friends, and family are targets. It’s honestly terrifying. But I pray that we stay strong and are able to be united out of the power of love and need for better. I try my best to make sure that fear does not overcome and break me or the ones that I love by showing love and support in every way I can. It’s critical that we all do the same.
So please, wherever you are dealing with this news, whether you are sad, angry, or somewhere in between, be sure to take care of yourselves. That’s the hard part and also the key to dealing with this trauma and sustaining movements like this. Self-love. They don’t want us to love ourselves and be here, the evidence is in how they shoot us down. So we must start every action with love, whether it may be protesting or just having a conversation. It all matters and how we take care of ourselves does too.
