Today I saw a black man having a heartfelt conversation with a white man in Costco about these issues. I didn’t stop and talk because I can imagine in this relentlessly white community how exhausting it must be to be asked to explain shit to random strangers. I wish there was a succinct button or something that I could wear that showed solidarity and safety without being intrusive, I think a lot of people walk that line of wanting to show support without wanting to center things on their own feelings about the issue?

My (mostly white) friend list on Facebook has been up in arms in outrage and in support of Black Lives Matter. Tumblr (my tumblr feed is nowhere near as white as my Facebook feed, because it’s far less dependent on people I come in contact with in my very white state) is awash in political awareness and outrage.

We hear you. We’re speaking up. We’re checking in. We’re talking to each other.

Every time another shooting happens, my heart breaks again. There are people I love who are directly affected by this kind of racism in their everyday lives, who can’t escape it, and just because I could… I won’t step away.

I wish I could wrap my arms around everyone who lives scared and tell them it’s going to be okay, but it feels like a lie. It’s not okay, and I don’t know how to fix it, but I’m not going to shut up until it’s better, because this is NOT the world I want to live in, and it’s not how I want my kids to grow up.

Anyway. Posting to tell you we’re here, we’re listening, we want to help, we wish it was better and we’re trying in every way we know. Speaking for my family and friends here.