This is a message that bears repeating – the reason this stuff is in the news more is that it’s so easy to catch cops on video. It was happening before, and ignoring it for all those years has given us a police force that views it as acceptable practice to torture people for not following instructions perfectly, and to shoot people who are running away, and to deliberately try to inflict brain trauma on people by repeatedly punching them in the head even while they’re restrained. And more and more, this is happening to white people too.

First they brutalized the black community and I said nothing because I was not black…

I AM NOT WHAT YOU THINK!

I am confused and afraid
I wonder what path I will take
I hear that there’s only two ways out
I see mothers bury their sons
I want my mom to never feel that pain
I am confused and afraid

I pretend all is fine
I feel like I’m suffocating
I touch nothing so I believe all is fine
I worry that it isn’t, though
I cry no more
I am confused and afraid

I understand people believe I’m just a statistic
I say to them I’m different
I dream of life getting easier
I try my best to make my dream true
I hope that it does
I am confused and afraid

-Antwon Rose Jr. July 12, 2000-June 19, 2018