I just want you to understand how I feel everyday.

I never had the privilege of being young and innocent. Racism and white supremacy flooded my childhood to the point where, instead of just getting to be a kid, my mind was constantly trying to understand why so many interactions outside of my own people somehow became about my race.

It could come from “friends,” teachers, coaches, peers, or random civilians nearby. People would make assumptions about me before they even knew me. They would decide what I was, what I believed, how I behaved, or what kind of person I must be simply because of the color of my skin. And as a kid, you don't always have the words to explain what's happening. You just know that you're being treated differently. So you start questioning yourself. You start questioning other people.

You start questioning why something as simple as existing can sometimes feel like you have to prove that you deserve to be treated normally.

Then you become an adult and finally find the words to talk about those experiences.

And what do you hear?

“Why does everything have to be about race?”

You tell me.

Why is race constantly used to make assumptions about me, but the moment I point those assumptions out, suddenly I'm the one making everything about race?

Why am I expected to ignore the history, the systems, the stereotypes, and the experiences that shaped the way I see the world just so someone else can feel more comfortable?

Luckily, I've studied enough history to understand that what I've experienced didn't come from nowhere. There is a history behind these perceptions. There is a history behind the stereotypes. There is a history behind the ways Black people have been treated, watched, controlled, criminalized, and misunderstood.

And I'm still living with the consequences of that history. That is a fraction of why I created Revolutionary Cloth.

It is about questioning the things we've been taught to accept. It is about remembering the people who challenged systems that told them to stay in their place. It is about understanding history instead of running from it. And it is about refusing to allow somebody else's perception of me to define who I am.

Because I want you to understand what it feels like to constantly have to break down the barriers of other people's perceptions just to be treated like a normal human being.

I want you to understand what it feels like to grow up realizing that some people will decide who you are before you ever get the chance to tell them yourself.

And I want you to understand why I refuse to stay silent about it.