You Do Not Have Choices

You Have Limits

Life in the u.s. does not make space for the freedom it claims to exemplify. It’s a plug and play pathway to disability and death. It sounds extreme until you think back to your childhood and the complete lack of choices you had. You were legally required to attend institutions that forced you to pay homage to a flag that represented oppression and learned heavily curated and false history painting the u.s. as a benevolent force spreading democracy across the globe. You learned what it was to function in a hierarchal society before you could truly understand what that meant. Your treatment was contingent on your identity, and if you were Black, you quickly learned that the only hierarchy you dominated was the one that resulted in discipline and punishment.

You learned that everything that made you stand out as an individual was a punishable offense. They taught you that there were no good options — you were penalized for both your speaking and your silence. Your hair, clothing, food, facial expressions, even how you spoke were subjected to constant scrutiny and disparagement. Assimilation only made it harder for them to discipline you, because while they could penalize you for performing to or exceeding their bullshit standards, it was harder to justify rewarding the kids who performed similarly or worse.