With Liberty & Justice for all

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. 
My privilege protected me during childhood. It’s only now, as a young adult, that I look back at certain memories and realise how serious the American racial divide was, and still is. 
Everyday at school, we would recite the Pledge of Allegiance. 
Ending goes “with liberty and justice for all”.

That is still the biggest lie there is.

George
It makes me sick. in the gut, in the heart. It hurts my neck, can you imagine how it hurt his? 

Breonna 
It makes me scared, in the gut, in the heart. It bleeds on my pillow, can you imagine how it bled on hers? 

Ahmaud
It makes me angry, in the gut, in the heart. It stings in my back, can you imagine how it stung his?

How can we keep watching as passerbys? 
How can we say new names each week, let tears roll down and carry on? 

Every time feels like a manhunt. 
Every time feels like watching an animal go down. 
The stillness and ease that comes after it is nauseating. 
America, we still have a race problem. 

We still don’t know how to treat everyone equally. 
We still hold under oppression an entire group of individuals, solely based on their skin color. 
We’re still filled with prejudice and imbalance. 

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. MLK. 

Saying sorry isn’t enough. 
Justice isn’t given, justice was stolen and still hasn’t been returned. 
A life for a life isn’t justice. That’s a mere reparation. 

Rachel Cargle (a personal favorite) says it best: Knowledge + Empathy + Action 

Change comes through actions. 
Preaching equality is great.
Preaching justice is great.
Taking real steps towards both is better. 

We all have work to do and we all need to do our part.