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I wasn’t the least bit surprised by the jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown… That didn’t keep my stomach from knotting up, riddled with disgust and disappointment. I clinched my fist with the might of Samson to hold back the tears as I literally felt the overwhelming disappointment from my brothers and sisters who had every inch of their faith in the judicial system to serve justice snatched away from them.

Today I witnessed something peculiar on Twitter. A young black lady told another that she doesn’t feel oppressed and that there are other blacks that don’t feel oppressed either. I was taken back by this comment, suspended in complete disbelief at what I just read. I wanted to verbally crucify the young lady right then and there for her treason but I chose a more positive outlet to voice my opposition to her ludicrous statement.

I have a few questions for her and other blacks that don’t feel the weight the oppressor or share the pain of the oppressed.

What do you feel if anything at all, when you think of our position in this country?

What about your brothers and sisters, do you feel nothing for them?

How are you so far removed from your own people that their pain does nothing to you?

How could it not turn your stomach, or make your blood boil?

They say we always make it about race but it’s always been about race. They took our deities and made them into blasphemies. They took us from our home and made us work in theirs. They separated us into light and dark, planting the seed of self-hate, which has blossomed into full bloom discrimination against ourselves. “Light skinned people” this and “Dark skinned people” that, “Brown skinned women are winning”, when us as a whole are losing. If you don’t feel any sorrow, any pain, any anger toward the conditions we black people have and continue to endure, you have already lost. If you cannot identify with your brother of the same color, the battle is theirs. But they have not won the war.

This is not a long-winded complaint but a call to action. A government’s power is only legitimized by its people who accept it as an authority. We need to shake the very foundation of this country, abolish the system that has no room for us to flourish and erect a more accommodating system for ALL. One that’s protects all of its people, not just those deemed privileged.