Voice of Consciousness

Wednesday evening I went to visit with a friend in DC, and ended up at a Black Lives Matter  protest . It is not the first time I have ended up at a protest in the name of friendship and love, but this protest I won't forget. It was not just peaceful; It was festive. This is a short unedited video of #BlackLivesMatter protesters dancing as the sun goes down.  #BlackLivesMatter DC occupied the National Fraternal Order of Police (#FOP) for approximately 17 hours, starting about 5am on Thursday and ending around 10pm. I came in around hour 14. The organizers ultimately decided to end the occupation with a party preceded by libations to the victims of (extra)legal brutality, including Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Amadou Diallo, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, and many more. Black protesters were asked to stand behind a row of red cups laid out in the street. Each of the cups had a name of a victim written in black permanent ink. Protesters were asked to #SayTheirName af...

I went to the We Are Orlando vigil last Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at the Center on Human and Civil Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. I wrote this poem after listening to a speech by Simone Bell, the first African American lesbian to serve in a U.S. state legislature. She was an inspiration before I heard her speak, much more afterwards. iii. inspiration i am not so good with these words: words of inspiration weigh heavy on me. me just want to see myself in these vigils, vigils across the world tell me somebody is listening, listening but can they hear the unspoken words? words matter says the sign. signs up with their names plastered in black ink, ink running wild to tell us of Devin Diamond another black transwoman killed, killed by “blunt force trauma" body burned beyond, beyond recognition how are we to stand tall, tall in our fear or at all? all of the rhetoric subsides as your voice rises above, above, high...