I wanted to cry

when I watched the interview

where LeVar Burton says

he taught his son

to place both hands

outside the window

touching the car

when the police

pull him over.

I hate to think about

a figure I love

being judged by

the color of his skin,

being treated as less than,

being in danger.

That’s LeVar!

If it can happen to him,

it can happen to anyone,

any of my black friends,

any person of color.

It drove that home to me.

The death of Philando Castile

gutted me.

He was a truly innocent man.

(I know, it shouldn’t matter.)

It became the clearest, most undeniable

incident of police brutality.

Philando was an everyman.

I fell in love with him

through the stories

that came out about him

in the days after his death.

I mourned for him.

He made me want to become a better person.

I’m finally working on that,

tending to seeds that were planted

years ago.