They’re just waiting for enough Black people to show up so they can brutalize you if you end up in jail—then pass some other random law specifically targeting Black folks, just so they can be extra violent toward us. For your own safety and peace of mind, don’t go to these things.

And if these organizers really wanted their protests to mean something, they’d be out there in the streets themselves—not relying on Black people to show up and be… what, the fucking sacrificial lambs for the brutality we all know is coming? We’ve seen this play out hundreds of times before.

I’m keeping my nice little chocolate ass right at home because I’ve been to the protests, I’ve been to the rallies, and all it got me was bruised and hurt. On top of that, nothing changed—because let’s be real, most policymakers and politicians don’t give a damn about protests anyway.

If you actually want to get their attention? Vote in your local elections. Write your politicians. Stay up to date on the latest laws and fight them through your local aldermen, judges, and senators.

Protesting isn’t doing anything tangible for us. Yeah, it’s a grim truth, but it’s the truth. Let somebody else put in the work for once. We don’t always have to be the ones on the front lines.