BLACK MEN: Please watch out for us, make sure we get home safe, don’t allow yourself or others to harass or harm us. Please respect us. Please encourage us, tell us we’re beautiful, value us. Please be loyal to us. Please make our protection and safety your priority.

BLACK WOMEN: Please let Black men know that we love and need them, encourage them and tell them they’re beautiful. Please do not encourage our men to act crazy (the law is NOT on our side). Please value Black men. Please make our unity with Black men our priority.

And to both Black men and Black women, can we please be soft with each other? Can we take accountability without shifting blame? The world is hard, and we have to stay woke while we’re out among the chaos, but we should be able to give each other rest