Black Lives Matter

This is a political post.

I'm sitting in my hostel in Amsterdam. I only have access to wifi on a sporadic basis, so I find myself catching up with the news in bursts. Today was too much.

Alton Sterling Philando Castile Police officers in Dallas who, as of this writing, have not been named publicly

Each of these deaths was wrong.

To say Black Lives Matter DOES NOT also imply that other lives don't. It is an assertion that needs to be made because we have erected a system which does not value black lives.

There is no sense in arguing about who is good and who is bad. The reality is we are all both.

The simple fact is that NO ONE deserves to be killed. Violence begets violence.

As USAmericans, we live in a culture that perpetuates the subjugation of others in such a way that allows us to feel self-righteous. We don't think it could possibly be true because it is all passive. However, passive participation in a system of injustice is still participation.

Black men and women (and sometimes children!) are dying across this country because they are black. This is not okay.

It is also not okay that police officers are losing their lives.

The pain and the injustice run deep. More violence and more death is not the answer.

May we lower our weapons and learn to see each other.