A Black Man Was Killed And I Still Went To Work

How am I supposed to navigate the professional world in the middle of a race war?

TheBlkPrnt
ZORA

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“No Justice No Peace” message projected onto the City Hall building after a group of Black Lives Matter protestors congregated on June 24, 2020 in New York City. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

There is much to be said about the current state of America right now. One in which Black people are not living, but surviving. Taking it day by day because we can’t afford to plan for a future we might not even be alive to see.

One where we watch trauma porn on our Twitter feedsone shot, two shot, three bodies, four. Countless black people have been murdered, how many more?

One where we see ourselves in the faces of Breonna Taylor and Philando Castile, but are still expected to show up for work and draft memos while white coworkers remain unaffected by the Black struggle.

I, like most of America, have spent the last 72 hours glued to my phone. Scared, angry, and defeated as I watched George Floyd take his last breath. A white cop’s knees pressed into his neck while an Asian officer stood by and calmly watched his partner commit legalized murder. Yet, I was still expected to show up to work the next day.

Can you imagine how dreadful it is to drag yourself out of bed and walk out the house with the weight of the world on your shoulders? THIS is what it feels like to be a Black person in America.

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