It is no different in the LGBT community, where racism still runs rampant. We have to support each other and lean on one another in the tough times. We are asking simply for equality.īeing a double minority has its great moments, but also its drawbacks when the two groups don't see eye to eye.Īfter the Pulse shooting I saw many in the black community silent, while after the police shootings I saw many in the gay community silent. The movement is about getting respect as human beings and being treated as such. Their deaths make me embrace my skin, not run from it.īlack lives matter because for so long they didn't. You must root out the problem in order to grow something that flourishes.īeing a black man is something that I am proud of, yet I know it is something that takes a little more work and requires more patience, as people doubt you and expect you to fail. Yet you have to get rid of the bad seeds in order to regain trust. Reality is that there are so many great apples that make up the community. It is just like the black community, a couple of bad seeds make the whole apple look bad. I understand that not all police officers are bad. I was afraid of being judged, and I knew that no one would understand that. because I was afraid to leave the house the next day, all because of my skin. There was a night after the shootings that I couldn't sleep. So much progress has been made, yet we still experience being "put in our place." People in the majority are often not impacted when hardships occur to the minority. The deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile are just another reminder of what it's like to be black in this country. If we stand together, then the bad times will occur less frequently and love will truly light the day. The togetherness that is felt when bad events happen needs to continue in the better times. I attended Chicago Pride, made great LGBT friends, danced for those who no longer could, and I saw how powerful we are as a community. I made a decision to live my truth every day. We were faced with two choices: live in fear or embrace love.įor me the decision was easy. Our community was devastated and hurting. Love is supposed to be the strongest force in the world. I couldn't comprehend how people who were simply enjoying life and love could so suddenly be gone. I woke up the morning after the Pulse shooting with my heart having sunk down to my feet. It has been a sobering two months, but months that have changed my perspective on the world I live in. Yet the most sobering moments in my life have occurred over the past two months, with the Pulse night club shooting in Orlando and the deaths of two more African-American men who didn't deserve to die. I just wanted to have fun with a date like my friends, but I couldn't. I remember going to senior prom absolutely deflated because I was the only gay kid that I knew.
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The realization that it was because of my skin color didn't occur until later, but it was my first sobering brush with the new racism in my life. I remember being five years old and wanting to go over to my friend's house, only to be told no because my friend's dad didn't want their white son playing with a kid who "wasn't familiar to them". For me, growing up as a young black man - and later, once I realized it, a gay black man - meant that I always had to prove I was good enough. We all have sobering events that happen in our lives that leave distinct impacts.