I am a member of the African-American community, therefore I am deeply concerned by the systemic oppression and murder of my fellow African-Americans at the hands of police officers who are usually not held accountable for their murders, like what they did in Baltimore. I am a member of the LGBTQ community, therefore I am deeply concerned about what comes out of the Supreme Court hearings on same-sex marriage. To ignore one of these issues and focus solely on the other is to ignore an intrinsic part of who I was created to be. Ignoring aspects of myself is the history of my adolescence. As an adult I refuse to do that to myself any longer, least of all with issues like these.
Some people feel as though they must choose one issue over the other: what is going on in Baltimore vs. what is going on in Washington, DC. That is fine for them, if that is what they must do. But for me both are a matter of my survival in this country, the only home I have ever known. Both are a matter of survival for many of the people I love. So I will focus on both to the best of my ability.