More Than a Hashtag: Facing the Reality That Our Lives Matter

Imagine being in your homeland feeling safe and secure. You aspire and achieve to become a valued member of society, with a promising future in view, despite everyday challenges. Then it happens: men unknown to you with evil intent seize you and your family, interrupting the life you have always known, and thrusting you into years of abuse, slavery, and hatred. And worse, as these foreign intruders subject you to unmentionable ills, you are powerless to stop them from doing the same to your family and friends for generations. Sadly, this abruptly interrupted storyline is not from the next bestselling novel about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. It was the reality of millions for hundreds of years. Moreover, many, while not forcefully kidnapped from their homeland, are experiencing the residual effects of hundreds of years of associated hatred and disenfranchisement. More Than a Hashtag: Facing the Reality That Our Lives Matter underscores the history of where we are coming from and where we are going. It chronicles the riveting journey of a people whose lives are far more than a hashtag, and trumpets the fact that, indeed, Black Lives (do) Matter, just as much as all others, despite American society's complicity in injustices perpetuated against us. You are more than a hashtag. We are more than a hashtag. And it's time to face that reality with the determination to seek liberty and justice for all.