We are mostly water.
A gallon of water weights 8.34 pounds.
The human heart on average is less than a pound. To be all heart is not nearly that substantial. The biggest human brains are 3.5 lbs at most. But what is the weight of the largest organ, the skin? What is the weight of your skin?
Melanin rich skin weighs more. It is thicker. It must be. It remains resilient to the lashes of injustice, the bruise of boots and the pounding of fists. For centuries it has been thus.
It is resilient but not impervious. It bruises and scars; healing into dense knots of tissue. An abstract pattern of raised and shiny keloid mementos. The scars add weight, like a thumb on a scale. Imperceptible but noted.
The more dense the pigment the more unctuous the skin. It shines with vitality and is burdened with history. Ancestral traumas become etched into the cells, indelible as a tattoo. The traumas of race are woven like a tartan into family lore, a poisoned blanket passed down generations.
This skin is resilient but it is not bullet proof.
Every black life lost to police violence has a weight. And it is heavy.
I could start a list counting backwards from Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, the names following would be a mess of memory, disordered and jumbled with sorrow and rage: Trayvon Martin, Atatiana Jefferson, Antwon Rose, Philando Castile, Oscar Grant, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and all the names that escape me in this moment because I can’t go on. This list is too long. We have too much skin in this game.
This skin is heavy. And I’m tired. We’re all tired. But the work has to be done. And we all have to do the work. The rule of law is not just for some. Protection and safety of the community cannot be selective.
It’s going to take more than a post and a petition. We need to keep vigilant and engaged. Stay informed. Follow up. Speak out. Silence is complicit with the problem. Seek solutions. Have the hard conversations. Black folks talk to your white friends. White folks talk to your black friends.
Listen.
The weight of prolonged injustice is too heavy for one group. Because we have endured does not mean we should have to continue. If you believe in change you need skin in the game. If you believe in justice for all you need skin in the game. It’s time for all hands to help with the heavy lifting on this.
I’m too damn tired to think of any other way.
If you have ideas or suggestions I am listening. If you want to talk I am listening.
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