Because my immune system screwed up my nerves, I've been continuously in pain for nearly 30 years. As a kid, I'd always assumed I'd be a father. I love kids. I love teaching. Being an uncle has been the best, most rewarding part of my life. But I knew I couldn't do it... https://twitter.com/Tinu/status/1384773043449339905

The pain I had, day in and day out, for no reason, was too much. Some days better than others, but never a moment without pain, and never knowing when, where, and how long the next sudden spike would be. I'd seen how much it hurt my parents to helplessly watch me go through it...

And I knew my mother blamed herself for it. And I realized that I couldn't have kids. Not with the additional layer of having experienced it firsthand. Not with the knowledge that there was a possibility I could pass on a genetic predisposition to the condition.

And so it really hit me hearing this beautiful, compassionate, determined soul say that she'd decided not to have kids because they would have a genetic predisposition to a pain she'd experienced firsthand. Except that it's not a medical condition...

It's a pain that our society has built in to the experience of having non-white skin.

We can't fix my nerves. We can't even explain why my body is doing this.

But society is what we make it. It's who we choose to be and what we choose to build and do.

We have to choose better.