Where do I begin? Watching news from all over the country last night really drives the point home. The point that many American’s have been trying to make for so many years. America cannot treat some of its citizens like they’re a second class.

There is one thing that I noticed this time around. As a member of the majority, we need to stop trying to find reasons to discredit the plight of the minority. Yes; violence, looting, and reckless behavior is bad, but it doesn’t change the fact that there are individuals not being held to account for their terrible actions on the other side of the law. The majority only see the faults of the minority and that drives their outlook on the whole. The majority discredits the whole movement because of the actions of a few. Stop trying to find reasons to discredit the whole movement based on the actions of a few.

END

I settled in after a long day of marching and observing the protests located throughout Cleveland and on the steps of the Cuyahoga County Justice Center. It was then that I realized something. How far the world I was in at that time was from where I was hours before. I sat on the floor, legs crossed, glued to the television. I was watching protests over the same issues I had been protesting. Occurring in nearly every major US city. Seeing shot after shot of freedoms being expressed and a litany of laws being broken. The dichotomy of protester actions is obvious and the irony is not lost. But above all, the message is clear. It is a plea for black Americans, all across this county, to be treated with the same respect as their white brothers and sisters, especially by those who have chosen to uphold the law and ensure order.

My hope with this gallery is to show what it’s like to be present during a boiling point of civil justice.