The Dangers of Living While Black

Kiki Monifa, Source: Think Progressive

arlier this year, I was riding a rented bike through a neighborhood in Alameda, California, while visiting my children at their other mother’s home. They have lived there for three years and I visit frequently, often several times a week.

This time, a white woman stopped me and asked if I lived there.

I responded no, and asked if she lived there. I asked whether she knew all the people who lived in the area and whether she would have stopped me if I was white.

She did not respond. But I think I know the answer.

Lately, the news has been full of stories like these. It’s all too common for black people like me to draw unwanted attention.

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