[iambrillyant]

“november, soften my thoughts and starve my doubts, water my intentions and dissolve my fears. reduce the volume on anything that tries to convince me i am not worthy so i can hear the frequency of my own love again. may i always remember my magic on days when i forget who i am.”

— billy chapata

[gracedperception]

My blackness came to save you. -Nayyirah Waheed

[soiwasthinkingthat]

Yesterday I was the moon by Noor Unnahar

[gracedperception]

Ahmaud.

Ahmaud. I unknowingly stumble upon a video, that rocks me to my core. I can’t even finish it in its entirety without shaking. I feel weak, sick to my stomach, as it becomes very personal for me. I think of you as I think about my own little brother going on his daily 5 mile run, and wonder if, he too, could be perceived as a threat exercising in the comfort of his own neighborhood. leaving a store with skittles and an ice tea. watching tv in his own apartment.⠀

I think about the harsh reality of how black and brown people are perceived in this world. I think about all the times I’ve been in a nice store where eyes followed me as I shopped. I think of, “you’re so pretty for a black girl” as if our features and curves have not been replicated up and down Hollywood’s Blvd… and “I want to date you but my parents won’t allow it” from outwardly Christian families, as if Jesus, in all of his perfectness, created us all equal, only to go back on His word and assert some superiority to distinguish who was the higher race amidst them all.

I think about Emmet Till. How whistling at a white woman 65 years ago, resulted in his lynched and disfigured body. I think of the agony his mother must have felt at his open casket funeral, as she displayed, in horror, his unrecognizable face as a symbol so the world could see what had been done to her son.

We have come so far from the days of Emmett Till to where we are now. However, I am constantly reminded of how many more steps we must continue to go. This is a modern day lynching. I don’t need a video to prove that. Maybe it isn’t as personal for you as it was for me; but as a wise man once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Change comes from within. Engage in intellectual dialogue with someone different than you. Be an ally. Maybe you agree to disagree on certain things, but always, you empathize.

How many more brown bodies will it take for us to bury, to realize, whether or not it’s affecting you, how systemic racism oppresses brown people. How many more MLK holidays will we cherry pick quotes that fit our agenda, celebrating a man who died for a cause that we have not yet lived for?

[lovelustquotes]

[goodquoteco]

[gracedperception]

There’s a lot of space between and a world of difference.

[spacettf]

[wordsnquotes]

“I admit, I was afraid to love. Not just love, but to love her. For she was a stunning mystery. She carried things deep inside her that no one has yet to understand, and I, I was afraid to fail, like the others. She was the ocean and i was just a boy who loved the waves but was completely terrified to swim.”

— Testy McTesterson

[anecdotesofasurvivor]

[gifdoctorwho]

[gifsboom]

Video: 100 Years of Beauty in 1 Minute: Mexico Edition

[tastefullyoffensive]

Previously: Korea

[gracedperception]

Be careful of the things you tell yourself when people can’t love you correctly.

[heyaica]

“Waiting for someone means that you are pouring salt on your own cuts and acting like it doesn’t burn. It means that you have agreed to be the person they “settle” for after exploring all other options. It means that you are surrendering yourself to rejection over and over again and acting like it’s the natural process of waiting. Waiting for someone means you are pushing away people who are willing to give what you are waiting for and they are willing to give it to you immediately. It means you are telling the whole world that you do not deserve the respect and love that you give others, that you are willing to compromise the most precious parts of yourself for someone who doesn’t even try to give a little bit more.”

— If you must wait; wait to be chosen every day, wait to be reminded that you are special, wait to be loved in the way that you constantly love, wait to be taken seriously and wait for someone who doesn’t keep you waiting, because you know that you deserve better than waiting around for someone to make up their mind. Rania Naim. 09.21.2016

[wordsnquotes]

“But with myself, I am deeply, profoundly and unconditionally enough.”

— juansendizon

[milebza]

July

Some verses of Kate Vinen’s poem The Last Swim of Summer

Milena

[poqari]

[gracedperception]