Dear United States of America: I am tired of dying in order for you to move forward!

Dear United States of America:

I am tired of dying in order for you to move forward!

As a Black gay man, I am tired of having to die in order for you to move forward as a society. I am tired that it took thousands of people who were forced to come to this country, forced to work, and never receive compensation for their hard work to die before you recognized their humanity as Black people. (We still need that compensation!)

I am tired that it took many Black churches, businesses, and schools to be bombed before you recognized that discrimination is a problem in this country. (Even though many of you still don't see it as a problem).

I am tired that it took hundreds of Black men to die in Tuskegee, Alabama while undergoing medical care authorized by the U.S. Government, under the guise of "medical study", with no intention of curing these men when a cure was available before ethical protocols were put in place regarding academic and medical studies.

I am tired that it took nine Black people to die in a church before you realized that the Confederate flag is a symbol of oppression that needs to be taken down from federal property and that those street names and other symbols need to also be eradicated.

I am tired that it took hundreds of LGBTQ people to be arrested and some killed yet we still do not have marriage equality or the right to work in this entire country without the fear of being fired because of who we are.

I am tired of the hundreds of transgender and gender queer people who are killed and do not have their humanity recognized or their cases equally treated by law enforcement and by the legal system.

As a result of these countless and senseless deaths we have had the Civil Rights Movement, the LGBTQ Rights Movement, the Feminist/Womanist Movement.  These deaths have lead to progressive advancements for this country, but yet in spite of all these movements the United States of America collectively still dehumanizes People of Color, LGBTQ people, and women.

I refuse to pledge allegiance to a country that continually fails to advance towards full equality and recognition for all of its people.  The United States of America needs to wake the fuck up and start addressing the collective needs of those who lie at the intersections and those who have endured a history of oppression in this country.

While I am happy about today's SCOTUS decisions regarding the Affordable Care Act and Fair Housing, and I applaud the Supreme Court of the United States for advancing progressively, the rest of our country and society still has a long way to go before I can pledge allegiance.

Overall, I say to you, the United States of America, you have failed me as an American, and I refuse to pledge allegiance to you until you become a country that recognizes me, all who are like me, and all who I care about as humans deserving of equal treatment and freedom from oppression.

Not yours,
The BGM