Listen


I’m in pain, hear me screaming, I need to be heard
Violence is happening, it needs to stop
Innocent black men are being killed, THAT needs to stop
How do we make all of this stop?

I’m not racist….Am I? Explain to me how I’m racist, what?
What are you? I’m biracial aka passing=I have white privilege
What is this white privilege you’re talking about. Why do we have to label?
Your normal is not my normal, wake up
I’m displaying “white fragility”? What even is that?
But, there must be more to the story, sitting in Starbucks, put your dog on a leash? I would never do that
#whitefragility

What are you doing in this neighborhood? I live here
Shopping while black? wear a GAP shirt into the GAP, carry big purse=get followed around
Can’t we talk about something else for a change I’m sick of hearing about racism
Police lights flash, immediate fear, am I alone or is he driving
I’ll drive the babysitter, or false accusations and he might never come home
#whiteprivilege

That hurt your feelings?
I didn’t even say anything wrong, did I? No you didn’t say anything I was trying to explain something
Forget it… you wouldn’t understand
She’s too emotional, don’t talk to her about race anymore
Imagine living with it every day, every week, every month, every year
Multiply that for hundreds of years, my family is tired of racism that’s why we're talking about it
Can’t bear to see monuments defaced? Confederate flag?
#systemicracism

How should I say listen to me? Peaceful protest take a knee?
No that disrespects the flag, that’s saying you hate America
What about the great soldiers who died for our country?
I'm grateful, respect the armed forces, love freedom. It's not about the flag. Taking a knee is a cry for justice
You don’t understand, nobody is listening
Don't want anything extra, just treat me equal
#dontsayallLivesmatter

Afraid when your son goes for a run #AhmaudArbery
Or walks with a bag of skittles with a hoodie in the dark, #TrayvonMartin
Arrested for a made up traffic ticket? Died in jail #SandraBland
Shot while sleeping? #BreonnaTaylor
Couldn’t happen could it? yes, watch video #GeorgeFloyd
Self defense? no you were scared just because he’s black.
#Blacklivesmatter

Christians are all about the love of Jesus
Jesus = love, outcast, immigrant, poor and a refugee
Aren’t those Christians praying to the same God on Sunday morning? Why segregated churches?
Why can’t a black man’s life have the same passion as fighting for the unborn child?
I’ll fight for gay rights and yes I'm a Christian
Lord, help me to recognize my hurts, how I have hurt others. Jesus is love, I want to stand for love
#bethebridge

What are you?
How do you say your name?
Yukiko, it’s Japanese
Dad, three years in WWII internment camps
Innocent, put in horse stables
American history class didn’t teach me that
#ithappenedhere
Me too is going a little too far
She was drunk she was asking for it
What about the girls who lie about rape, why aren’t they getting in trouble
He’s still at Stanford? even though the evidence was there
Daughter in an equipment room alone with two male coaches

#metoo

She’s bipolar
Why so sensitive, it was just a joke
She was in the mental hospital, I guess that makes sense
Everyone gets depressed sometimes
If you pray enough you won’t need medication
Suicide? She’s not the kind of person I thought would do it
#mentalhealthawareness

Laura Yukiko Nakada Flennaugh
White, with privilege
Black lives matter, married a black man
Christian, don’t lump me with evangelicals ideas
Japanese, unjust internment
Female, me too
Bipolar, it’s ok not to be ok

See me, hear me, mourn with me, fight for me
There is a time and place for everything, always time for compassion and love.

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