I'm tired. I'm tired of living in a country where black people are dis-proportionally killed, arrested, threatened, oppressed, vilified, and shamed. The images coming out of MN this morning of what occurred at last night's protest of yet another black man's murder by police...

...while not at all surprising, are infuriating. And just, they make me tired. I can only imagine how those images make POC in this country and around the world feel. The colour of my skin gives me a free pass in a lot of ways. I'd like to say I'd trade places...

...but I don't want to trade. I don't want ANYONE to be oppressed and basically hunted for existing. Everyday I wake up, hoping to see the 2020 we all dreamed of, but realising it was nothing but that, a dream. Reality is that we've never left those dark days behind. ...

... Social media and the internet have only brought to light, and continue to show the systemic racism that has mired this country for centuries. It hasn't stopped. It hasn't lightened. Like a virus, it has mutated. Instead of the shackles of slavery, it's the shackles of...

...for-profit prisons. Instead of outright segregation, it's applications for housing, schools, jobs getting 'lost' when certain boxes are checked, or a name sounds 'a certain way'. Instead of not having the right to vote, it's legal gerrymandering and voter oppression. ...

... This thread could keep going. But it's not my voice that needs to be heard. It's not my life being threatened for the amount of melanin in my skin.

It's been in my profile for years, but I'll state it here plainly. #BlackLivesMatter