Justice for #EricGarner

As I laid out on the cold, hard concrete for 4.5 minutes, I began to weep. I was not anticipating the Yale Law School die-in demonstration having an effect on me, after all, I had both organized and participated in many protests throughout my young life. But there was something about staring at the infinite sky that brought stinging tears to my eyes.

And when I say tears, I mean sniffly, chest-heaving, uncontrollable weeping.

It was during this time that both simultaneously and instantly, two hands on either side of me caressed my arms to console me.

The hands of relative strangers let me know that they heard me and - in the spirit of this movement - wanted me to be able to breathe.

The hands of Sharif and Felix (as I later learned) differed from mine. We were not the same skin color, appeared to have varying other identities, and went to different educational institutions. But in my time of sorrow, they consoled me after just having met me minutes earlier when we grasped hands to walk from the Yale Law School to the New Haven courthouse with hundreds of others. 

After our relatively short time on the ground, we stood, and I hugged my newfound comrades. We continued to march in silence, but I knew that their spirit was joining with mine as we were the only ones at that point who picked back up the hand holding.

What happened next brought more tears to my eyes.

The people behind us linked hands. 

Although we were in the middle of the group, our actions began a change for those who followed us. 

When those in front of us saw that we were linked, they too grabbed the hands of those standing by them. Our relationship influenced others to be unified.

We went to the courthouse, and, led by an amazingly vocal and passionate law student, chanted together that Black Lives Matter.

All of these diverse voices were chanting in unison for the rights of those who have often been left chanting within our own communities feeling isolated, unheard, and forgotten.

But I did not experience that today.

Sharif and Felix let me know that they, along with the others marching, demonstrating, and chanting, were with me. 

I have indicated through other social media posts that it is about the relationship - the conversations - that we must have in order for others to truly understand that #BlackLivesMatter. I believe that I experienced that most clearly today in those blurry eyed minutes on the ground and the subsequent unification with my activist brethren.

I am excited to look toward the sky once more with optimism, knowing that change IS possible through relationships and empathy and that there are too many who are concerned for this movement to stop anytime soon.