UNBOTHERED: A Note on Race

I know, no one likes to talk about it. But this past week race has taken over media coverage about diversity in Hollywood. If you want to know the real skinny on being a black person in America it's this: this country wasn't made with us in mind. That doesn't mean we can't thrive. That doesn't mean people don't like us. It doesn't mean the whole country is our enemy. It means the majority thinks about itself. It means when a black person points out the blankness of the canvas you (a white person) painted, you will be shocked. It means songs like Macklemore's White Privilege II will have you (a white person) thinking about things you should have thought about a long time ago. It means living in a world where everyone is clueless about the way they ignore me. It means everyone else's story is more important than my own. It means holding back part of my personality in the presence of a white friend lest they be confused or taken aback by my culture. It means so many things that I won't even try to type a holistic list because one, it would take too long, and two, who really cares to hear it?It is not our job to insert ourselves in a world that doesn't include us. It is not our job to go create a separate world of our own. It is our job to be ourselves in our best, brightest blackness and be so good at everything that everybody can't help but see it. And then we decide where we will go. Because to live in a world that wasn't made for you isn't easy. It's living the life of the INVISIBLE MAN. But living in a world that wasn't made for you gives you extraordinary power to show that world just what they're missing, and how much you are UNBOTHERED.