My Black Life Matters

We're not saying our Black lives matter more than you.

We're saying our Black lives matter too.

Part of me wants to plead, beg to be respected -- say my life matters because I'm a nurse or an artist, a taxpayer, family man -- as though these are things to be bartered with, justified. But no, my life matters because I am human. I breathe, I get scared sometimes, I make mistakes. I appreciate the sunsets, I smile at the kids hiding behind their parent's legs, I wake late. I love endlessly.

My Black life matters because I live.

And if we aren't heard with a knee, or with a raised fist, how else can we resist?