I've spent the last hour trying to word this. The biggest misunderstanding about #BlackLivesMatter is where it's stemming from. I am just one Black person but I can explain this to you. Any of us could, if you listen. So listen to me. A THREAD. (1/11)

I'm fully aware that right now, social media is just a battlefield of anger, contrasting ideas, blame, politics, and verbal abuse. But I'm also aware that you have the ability to set that aside and look at the underlying issues, if you choose to. (2/11)

A man named George Floyd was murdered by police officers. This happened in the United States, a country where racial biases often prevent justice from happening, as evidenced by the fact that a clear cut murder case has instead become a political hotbed. (3/11)

Black people are angry about this because not only is it wrong, but these racial injustices stem from actions that occurred long before anybody was born. We did nothing to deserve having our race play a part in our survival chances during police dealings. (4/11)

Statistics in the United States do point to Black crime rates being proportionally higher, but these statistics are the product of an unjust system, and it's logically and morally wrong to judge a Black person's value by the actions of other Black people. (5/11)

We don't want special favors. We don't want a handout.

We want to be individual people.

In the name of culture, Black people are a collective, just like any other race. In the name of humanity, Black people are individuals just like any other person. (6/11)

I am a person.

I am one person.

I am Black, but I am also me.

I hate that my blackness is associated with negativity by some people, but I will NEVER downplay it. I will prove you wrong just by being myself, and that's a chance I demand and deserve. We all do. (7/11)

Black people are not crime statistics.

Black people are not a political statement.

Black people are not the actions of others.

We made our progress as a people by sticking together, and you made a mistake by thinking we weren't powerful as individuals. (8/11)

I will not blame you for the actions of your ancestors or peers. I don't see you as a number or as a history. I don't want you to be the problem.

I choose to believe that you are capable of loving me. And I demand that you recognize I am capable of that as well. (9/11)

All the evidence in this situation that people are trying to use as distractions from the real issue will never lessen the fact that George Floyd was murdered and racial injustices played a part. The anger from Black people isn't the reason he deserved it. There is none. (10/11)

The anger that's floating around is what happens when you deprive a human being of the right to be human. But no matter what happens, we will keep speaking up until we are viewed as individuals, both worthy and capable of love, and undeserving of other's burdens. (end.)