What’s happened in the past couple days is beyond words.

The shootings in Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights has resulted in an immense wave of shock and grief. I’m still reeling from these two lives lost… and reminded of all the other people whose lives have been taken violently, unfairly, unnecessarily, and prematurely.

It makes me both sad and mad to think that in many of these instances, the person was doing nothing wrong.

They were complying, they were subdued already. But the situation escalated to a horrific end regardless.

For the people saying this or that could’ve been prevented, there are choices and resulting outcomes that other people simply don’t have because of how they look.

The reality is drastically different for many people of color.

It’s little wonder why the many forms of inequity and privilege are so hard for everyone to understand. If you haven’t experienced what another person has, you just don’t know all the ways inequity can show up, limit and take away from that person’s life.

My heart goes to the families devastated by the deaths. I don’t have the answers, but what I do know is this:

This needs to stop.

It’s simply unacceptable that fellow human beings have to fear for their lives when they are doing nothing wrong.

This needs to stop now, before more lives are lost.