“Are you ok?”
“What are you feeling?”
“I’m sorry…”
These are the messages that have been ringing in my phone nonstop for the last week. Messages sent from friends who have become suddenly aware of the fact that racism is not just something we read about in school or see on TV. Messages sent from acquaintances who are burdened with a pang of guilt because they are learning that being black in America bears a weight that they never knew we had to carry. Messages sent from people confirming that what they are seeing on the news has even affected their own personal black friend.