Never fail. I protest this racism against brown and black and native bodies. I protest this brutality that takes life. That harms minds and souls. That makes widows, widowers, and orphans. I protest this injustice. I may not be able to do much but you will hear me.

I PROTEST!

Last night, I read Henry’s Freedom Box to my mixed-race daughter, the true story of a slave who mailed himself to freedom after his wife and children had been sold away. I stopped and explained to her as we read, and I saw her little face crumple a few times. She even hid under her blanket when Henry’s wife and children were taken from the marketplace.

When the story was done, she asked questions, including this one: “What if there was a villain with every power in the world, even some that haven’t been created yet, and they tried to take me away like that? What would you do?” I told her that I would fight. That WE would fight, in every way we could, because we will ALWAYS stand for what is right. Whether we do it by marching, speaking, writing, feeding, kneeling, helping, it doesn’t matter so long as we stand for what is right and against what is wrong.

I PROTEST!

I told her what happened to George Floyd, what has happened to so many, and what is happening in the world right now as a result. That, together, we are saying, “This. Must. Stop.”

I PROTEST!