My heart was beating fast, but it wasn't the beat of fear. It was the beat of frustration--frustrated to be treated like a criminal when no crime had occurred.

I could recognize the look in the lead officer's eyes. It reminded me of the cop on Lester Street in White Cloud. I was his target. I didn't know why, but he was focused on me, just as I was honing in on him. The other officer was his accompanist. He marched to the cadence of a non-rhythmic drum. he moved closer slower, while my heart beat faster.

Change your default. Take the risk of expecting the next black man you encounter to more likely be an opportunity than a threat. Productive rather than pitiful. Human rather than hurtful. Dependable rather than destructive. A man, rather than a menace. Change your default. It's true, some will let you down. Some of your race have let you down too. But, your default view of your race hasn't likely changed.

Nigger...It felt sharper than normal. It wasn't friendly from a friend. The laughable part is that's all he had. The moniker passed down from his great, great grandfather and them. It had made its way to another generation of limited thinkers. Limited speakers. Limited young men. Limited. That's all he had. He didn't have the words. He didn't have the power. He didn't have the control.

Our world is not colorless. It is colorful, and we're better for it.

It is not our differences that separate us. It is the denial of the beauty and rightness of those differences that separate us.

Just because you know me does not mean that I am not black. I am black. I am thankfully black. I am black just like the person you are hurling your insult at. On the way to them, it hits me. I'm Colin Kaepernick black. Protesting oppression black. Not-so-sure about the National Anthem black. Skeptical of the Pledge of Allegiance black. I'm George Floyd black. At times, leery of law enforcement black. Don't trust the system black.I'm not different.I am no exception.

There's something about a white man who seriously opens up to black people. White people who become family to black people. There's another dimension of militance that emerges from them. They grip their anger with the system in ways black people are not allowed, in efforts to right the wrongs.

We were beautifully different, and that was okay.