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So I'm gonna be honest with you guys, this is pretty much the only piece I've done this month.

On May 30th, I attended the BLM protest in Toledo Ohio, expecting to be there for a few hours to show support for the black community in my hometown and to pass out water bottles during a blockbust and march around downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.

I didn't think that things would get violent.

The march was completely peaceful until a suspected plant in the crowd tagged a cop car, and they fired a tear gas canister in retaliation. We were hit 5 times with tear gas during the march, and wooden bullets were fired into the crowd, I was hit twice (one in the knee, one in the back). The we made our way to the police precinct in downtown Toledo, where they met us with more gas and wooden rounds, and closed the block so nobody could get in. I found myself taking people to the hospital and giving people rides home if they didn't feel safe going home for around 4-5 hours and helping provide first aid when needed.

I'm not here to gloat about being a hero. I'm not. I'm disgusted and enraged that this happened. I was there to support and listen to my black neighbors and we were met with violence from the institution that swore to protect their community. The police are not there to protect and serve their communities. They are there to keep people in line through fear and profit from their communities, especially when it comes to black communities and neighborhoods. I saw what was happening and I couldn't leave. I couldn't stand around and do nothing. I couldn't just run away and not think about what was unfolding. I had to act. We need to act.

I got a taste of the police state we live in, and I know that it's so much worse for others. I've found myself now dissociating when I smell chemical vapors. I freeze when I hear sirens or see police lights. I've been plagued with nightmares and flashbacks to having terrified and injured people in my car, telling them it's going to be okay as I took them to the hospital or to their homes. I think back to the shower I took after the protest and falling apart. I've been seeing my therapist again, and it's likely that I have PTSD from the Toledo protest. But this isn't about me. This is about how we have an institution in place that bullies and terrorizes minority groups. We truly do live in a police state, and my privilege as a white person made me blind to that for too long. I will always stand with my neighbors. If the police refuse to protect and serve, then I will. Black lives matter now and always will matter.

If you are white and want to help, give the megaphone to black voices in your communities. Go to protests, take supplies to protests, provide medical support, donate to bail funds, and most importantly, listen to black voices on these matters.

Here's a list of bail funds you can donate to for protestors who have been detained. bailfunds.github.io/

Description

So I'm gonna be honest with you guys, this is pretty much the only piece I've done this month.

On May 30th, I attended the BLM protest in Toledo Ohio, expecting to be there for a few hours to show support for the black community in my hometown and to pass out water bottles during a blockbust and march around downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.

I didn't think that things would get violent.

The march was completely peaceful until a suspected plant in the crowd tagged a cop car, and they fired a tear gas canister in retaliation. We were hit 5 times with tear gas during the march, and wooden bullets were fired into the crowd, I was hit twice (one in the knee, one in the back). The we made our way to the police precinct in downtown Toledo, where they met us with more gas and wooden rounds, and closed the block so nobody could get in. I found myself taking people to the hospital and giving people rides home if they didn't feel safe going home for around 4-5 hours and helping provide first aid when needed.

I'm not here to gloat about being a hero. I'm not. I'm disgusted and enraged that this happened. I was there to support and listen to my black neighbors and we were met with violence from the institution that swore to protect their community. The police are not there to protect and serve their communities. They are there to keep people in line through fear and profit from their communities, especially when it comes to black communities and neighborhoods. I saw what was happening and I couldn't leave. I couldn't stand around and do nothing. I couldn't just run away and not think about what was unfolding. I had to act. We need to act.

I got a taste of the police state we live in, and I know that it's so much worse for others. I've found myself now dissociating when I smell chemical vapors. I freeze when I hear sirens or see police lights. I've been plagued with nightmares and flashbacks to having terrified and injured people in my car, telling them it's going to be okay as I took them to the hospital or to their homes. I think back to the shower I took after the protest and falling apart. I've been seeing my therapist again, and it's likely that I have PTSD from the Toledo protest. But this isn't about me. This is about how we have an institution in place that bullies and terrorizes minority groups. We truly do live in a police state, and my privilege as a white person made me blind to that for too long. I will always stand with my neighbors. If the police refuse to protect and serve, then I will. Black lives matter now and always will matter.

If you are white and want to help, give the megaphone to black voices in your communities. Go to protests, take supplies to protests, provide medical support, donate to bail funds, and most importantly, listen to black voices on these matters.

Here's a list of bail funds you can donate to for protestors who have been detained. bailfunds.github.io/