To My Beautiful Black People

To My beautiful black people,

I am sorry that you are constantly targeted and killed. I am sorry that no matter how young or old, you are still followed. The fact that you face police brutality is not a surprise to me yet I cry and I ache every time I see the unfair treatment of you. There are so many documentaries and poems in the world that showcase the unfair treatment of you, yet people don’t listen. There are enough statistics to show that you face discrimination and racism, yet people don’t care.

When I immigrate to America, my family and I were naïve. We were naïve because we believed in the American dream. We believed that if we worked hard, we would be successful. But what is success? We didn’t realize success meant living to see another day. We didn’t realize success meant working hard everyday to show the world that we matter, that we are human beings created in the image of God. “Slavery is gone, racism doesn’t exist,” they said. Is slavery really gone? How is slavery gone when there is mass incarceration of our people? How is slavery gone, when our people are stripped of their rights to vote? Our people fought hard to win us our basic civil and human rights, but do we really have rights?

Most of the things I heard at Citizen University, I have already heard. As a black person myself, I also get followed. I can’t go into a department store without employees tracking my steps. My intelligence is always being questioned. I can’t see people who look like me as I walk through the campus of the UW. Although I am working towards a degree, I don’t know if I can find a job because employers would rather hire white people. Again, I wasn’t surprised to hear from other black people that they also experience these discriminations. The systems are built to put us down, to dehumanize and degrade us. Yet we are more powerful than they think. We will show the world wrong because we are beautiful, smart, kind, and unique. We are more than the stereotypes the world assign us. We are human beings that deserve the world.

Remember to always love yourself and know that you are worthy.