I have struggled so much with the events of this past week in Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights, and Dallas.

I have so many emotions and thoughts swirling around in my head that I don't know how to get out.  Realities I am grasping as a white person in America.  For a long time I have believed I was sympathetic to the cause of Black Lives Matter, but the simple fact was it just didn't affect me all that much.

But this week, seeing those live videos of black men murdered has been extremely disturbing... and an extreme wake-up call.  It's not that I didn't believe that black people, specifically black men, face that kind of danger when dealing with police.  But I just didn't give it much thought because at the end of the day, I am safer for being a white person.  I have never had to be afraid for the simple fact that I am white.

It used to frustrate me when men couldn't be sympathetic to the cause of feminism.  I would think, "If women are telling you the realities of what they face every day as women, believe them.  Why can't you just believe us and listen?"  It's not a conspiracy of man-hatred that causes this.

And suddenly I am realizing the same thing about Black Lives Matter.  It's not that I didn't believe it.  But I was blind to it.

As hard as it is to hear about these things, to believe that my fellow man can treat another human being this way... I want to hear about it.  I want to listen.  Because as a white woman, I will never understand or be able to help if I don't listen.  It is not my place to point fingers and call this race-baiting as so many will do.  It is not my place to stand here and offer advice, to shove my opinions in anyone's faces on either side.  It is my place to listen, and to learn how I can help.  For my black brothers and sisters, I want you to know I stand with you.