Another black man being killed. Another black husband being murdered senselessly. Another black son being shot down. Another black man who actually had his hands up and still killed. The question that now comes to mind is, “Are we truly safe?” Because clearly they don’t care about his black life so I know they don’t care about my life.

I shouldn’t have to wake up and see a new hash tag created because of another slain brother in the streets by these perpetrators in uniforms. When and where does true accountability to come into play? Not only for the people behind these heinous crimes, but also the ones talking about it on social media.

I come into my classroom and teach my students about number lines and what not, but I feel like I need to be teaching them about the timeline. And this new, but not so new, timeline is constantly being added to with the murders of our brothers and sisters.

I come into my classroom every morning to gather my thoughts before my students come in, but I also say a prayer for them every morning. I hate to admit this, but fear has been instilled in me when I look at them in their faces because I wonder if they’ll be added to this timeline of injustice. I pray for them because they are under attack right now. I pray for them because the odds are against them. I pray for them because sometimes the credentials and education in their tool belt doesn’t matter, they’re still going to be looked at differently because of their skin color and zip code.

We are living in a society of fear. We are making decisions and thinking irrationally out of fear. The countless lives we hear about being taken are being taken out of fear. Fear of a black man being and looking like “a bad guy”. The narrative is becoming cyclical and until we act out of a place from love, can we then change it

At one point in time blacks lives did not matter and it still feels the same. With that said, yes, BLACK LIVES DO MATTER. BLACK LIVES NEED TO MATTER. Yes, I agree that everyone’s lives matter but at this point in time you don’t see white people getting shot and gunned down unfairly at the hands of police officers. You don’t see our white counterparts on the news crying out for justice for their people because of wrongful killings. Enough is enough and I’m getting sick and tired of being sick and tired.

We all are.

Social media is nothing but an archive and timeline now of “Who killed this black person this time” and the pain and suffering we now have to see their families endure. We all have to endure that.

I can only imagine what it was like during the Civil Rights era. Growing up, I remember my family would always go to the movies and when we went to see movies like The Help, 12 Years A Slave, etc. my grandmother never wanted to go. She simply said, “I can’t watch things like that because it’s too much to relive.” I really didn’t understand her position on that until later.

We’re also now being served with the reminders of how our lives still do not matter. But, one thing we must do is face it. We have to in order to be catalyst for change in our communities and the world. Am I furious? Yes. Am I going to channel that energy into something positive so I can do something? Definitely. You have to be the change you want to see and we cannot operate out of fear, but with love and hope.

Until then, though, work on freeing yourself from these stigmas put on us and don’t live in anger and fear too long to the point it consumes you. In the meantime, let’ have our voices be heard at these voting polls.

Put a #HashTag on that.