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.
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.