Dear America,

We haven’t been breathing for a while. In fact, you never let us take our first breath. We’ve been maintaining. Wearing ventilators before it was necessary. Wearing masks, to cover up our pain, before it was mandatory.

We nursed your children and you kept us in chains. We fought in wars for you, but you only liked us when we entertained. We stopped riding the bus and you hung us by trees. We marched on bridges and you bombed our sanctuaries.

We told you then and we’ve been telling you now that we couldn’t breathe. But you’ve watched and tried to make us believe that it wasn’t as bad as it seems. So, we go to work and ask you not to touch our hair. You clutch your purse when we walk by.

No matter how hard we smile, you still glare. You tell us to not dwell on the past. But in the same breath will tell us to go back to a place we’ve never been.

It’s only been 155 years since we were set free, 57 years since Martin had a dream, and 5 days since George Floyd uttered the words, “I Can’t Breathe!” They say silence is deadly, but you don’t care to hear us speak!

Acknowledge that your words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are LIFE, LIBERTY and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS”, were not intended for me!