BLM

The veins in your hands are the same as mine, and the beats in your heart aren’t any different. Why should you be mistreated because of pigment? Why can’t others see what I see, that the skin we live in doesn’t make us different. Say their names, then say we are the same. Let’s see society change around this… that the skin we live in doesn’t make us different. If evol is just love turned over, then the bad ones just lost their way. They need help as much as anyone, to get back on pace. You look up at the same sky, the ground that you walk on is the same as mine, you laugh, smile, hate, love, like I do. Our existence on this planet works in a balance. We’re in a pandemic because the world is sick and it needs us to fix it. Right now, we are not perfect, and earth is imbalanced. Its people are dying. We’re trying to find that balance. So that we can live here together. As MJ puts it: Heal the world, make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race. There are people dying and if we care enough for the living, make a better place for you and for me.

A tuxedo is not as cool if it’s all white or all black. Colors in the suit work together. When they do, they make a statement. Society is like a tailor, tugging, pulling, trying, matching, pinning for what it wants to be: the perfect style. The perfect fit. We will find a fit, we will so beautifully come together as one, like we’ve never been, and when we do, it will be the coolest thing you’ve ever seen. You can’t have light without dark. You can’t have dark without light. Dark isn’t bad, dangerous, or scary. Light isn’t always good, safe, or right. We need sleep. We need light. We need day. We need night. We need seasons. None are better than the others; they are parts of a perfect balance to a well-oiled system, between us and the sun. If we can be light in this world, we must also let in the darkness. Our darkness. I speak these words, because I feel imbalanced, a lot of the time. But I re-correct, I let the light in, I let the darkness up. And there’s struggle, and there’s sadness, and there are times of pain and sorrow, but then comes feeling good again. Being inspired, and around and around it goes again. It’s just seasons passing. Emotions, like fall winter, spring, summer, pass through me, ever changing between my mind and body. So I try not to judge them, try not to want one more than the other. I’m balancing myself out. We are all a small microcosm of what happens on this planet. We need balance, so does the planet. We must make things right, have justice, feel heard, be with ourselves in our feelings, change law, fix the broken, so that we as people can find that center point of action and reaction. First, in ourselves, then in our society, then in our country, then in our world.

I’m listening, I’m learning, I’m respectful in my silence. Our own people are hurting, humans are struggling to find peace, and I want it just as bad as you do. Because I am you. Human. So be kind to one another, if they’re rude to you, don’t take it personal. Spring doesn’t judge fall. Summer doesn’t judge winter. Try understanding them, because they’re just in a different season. Their ice is melting, they’re working toward spring. They’re trying to find their own peace like you and me. Your patience, your understanding will lead them faster down their own path to love. To their own path of understanding. Their veins are the same as yours, their heart beats the same, so listen to it as if it was your own and you will, in turn, learn about theirs. Listen as if they were your worries, your fears, your dreams, because they are the same as yours.

And I’m sorry. I say it on behalf of my ancestors. I say it on behalf of my race. I’m sorry for all the pain that I’ve caused. And even though that will never be enough. I hope that saying it will at least help to make a difference. Forgive me, forgive us, for being lost, for being stupid, for being unjust. I don’t know what’s its like, but I’m here for you, so you can tell me what isn’t right. The only way we can work together is if the tie is on, the buttons are clasped, the belt fastened and the slacks are at correct length. White and black. The Tuxedo. One of the same human race.

I’m sorry, and hope you can forgive me for all the wrong I’ve done. And I’d like to say that the skin I live in doesn’t make me different. And I won’t mistreat you based on pigment, and I’ll try everyday to make a difference, until the day comes where we aren’t treated different, but treated as one. And I’ll be your friend and we’ll walk hand in hand, and this time in our history will all seem like a bad dream. But it’s necessary. I allow it. I don’t judge it because it’s an adjustment, a re-correction, a movement in a direction closer to what we all need. Peace, balance, freedom and release. Healing.

I love you, because if I didn’t, then I couldn’t love myself. And if I didn’t then I’d be wrong when I said we’re not the same. If I were right, it would sound more like: the skin we live in doesn’t make us different. It just makes our capacity for loving, learning, growing, evolving and changing ever more important and relevant.

I hope when you watch this, you can see past my pigment to the heart behind it. And forgive me. Be with me, as I am here with you, because this tuxedo sure would like a jacket. And the cream of the Oreo is not as delicious without the cookie around it. And and the yang just looks like a teardrop without the yin beside it. The problem is systemic and I will continue to watch, listen, and be active toward it, to see the system work for everyone in it, not just the ones who will benefit. We all need to benefit, and certain departments could benefit from the same re-adjustment, re-alignment, a re-collaboration that we’re all in. That’s what’s so American about it. We are all in this. And the people will decide what is best for them, and the system will change around it. We’re in charge. We will seek and create policy we need, and they will follow behind us, to see the freedom that our country stands upon achieved. Our leaders will work for us, because we are the ones who demand life, liberty, and pursuit of something great: happiness, before any of this can cease to exist. I stand behind you. I stand with you. I stand as a part of you. Because I have to. I am you.

All Lives Matter. Sure, but I can’t truly say that until Black Lives Matter. Once Black Lives Matter then all lives will matter. Once Black, Brown, Yellow and Women’s Lives’ Matter, then all lives will matter. Once All Lives Matter, then the Earth will matter. Progress is a ladder, and we can’t move forward and rise as one, until all the rungs are in order. Love yourself, love one another, and love the world we share for we do not have another. This is our only life. This is our only Earth. So let’s start today, right now, to help others up so together we can start up the rungs of that ladder. We need it. Our children need it. We must do it, so future generations can enjoy this planet, this life, and most importantly, each other interacting and fitting perfectly within in it. So please listen when I say, that no matter our color, or what’s in the pigment, we only matter when we can all say: the skin I live in does not make me different.