This week KALW teamed up with the East Bay Express to share essays by Bay Area residents about racial injustice in America. The series marks the two-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death.
Dozens wrote in with their thoughts on last month’s police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
Today we conclude the series with essays from three local residents, Nicole Lovett, Josiah DeCarlo and Tamesha Danyelle Price.
NICOLE LOVETT: I want to say to all the people who are finding themselves steeped in despair: It is OK if you do not want to go out and fight. It is OK if you don't want to turn to social media. Even the greatest soldiers have to rest after war.
Credit PHOTO BY LUCY KANG
JOSIAH DECARLO: We can't sanitize any of the horrors of the last 100 years. We can't escape into an alternate universe and leave this world behind, at least not yet. But we can be there for each other, help each other get through these tumultuous times.
Credit PHOTO BY JUSTINE LEE
TAMESHA DANYELLE PRICE: My skin should never cause you to forget that before I am Black, I am human. And so I ask of you today to see me as more. Because we have always been. And will forever be.
To hear their stories, please click on the audio player above.
This series is a partnership between KALW and the East Bay Express, where the essays reflecting on racial injustice in America originally appeared.