White people can empathize with this terrifying reality. But we cannot be inside the lived reality that forms for a Black man when the police approach.
It is so dark inside my head. I can’t see. I pretend, I speak, I look, I live, wrestling those words. One foot on their throat, but begging for their mercy.
Basic rights are not complicated. We each inherit them simply by reincarnating on Mother Earth. And so, if I want to protest for basic human rights, I will.
Once you've identified this place of separation, begin to think about the mindset you have around this idea. For me, I am guilty of assuming that any mistreatment I experience in a store, for example, is due to my race, as opposed to an employee having a bad day or another reason completely ...