African American

My life, maybe because of its ups and downs, has left me with rewards that the people who I started with never saw. Among the best of these are knowing that people like you all are still out there.

Among the others is that I rarely have to look twice when a Ford 4WD with an "America First" or Stars and Bars sticker on the back window comes cruising by. (I think a lot of white folks buy into what they hear from the Spencers of this country and figure that any black man in a decent car must have three other guys in there with him and a gym bag of Tec-9's). Folks like my friend, or Michael Brown, or Sandra Bland, or Trayvon Martin, or Tamir Rice, or any of the other hundreds of black men and women who are intimidated, bullied, arrested, and shot by people in positions of authority every year never got those rewards.

When I hear your words, I know that there are people standing behind like them too.

My blessings go out to each of you.

Some people have asked me what to do and all I can say is that, if you have a moral code which allows you to strike back with equal force, do so. If you do not, do what you are doing here. Speak out. Stand. Do not fall.