I support the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. I am an ally.

I support Bernie Sanders.

Historically speaking, major status-quo-shifting change comes about through brave people taking part in civil disobedience.

Fearless people force the attention of others. The women who spoke at the rally in Seattle, Saturday, Aug. 8, were brave, passionate, articulate, powerful and inspiring. I felt the raw hurt-turned-anger that they shared with us. They did not get up there with guns or clubs. They used their bodies and words to “take space” and to metaphorically hit us over the heads with a 2 x 4. Yes, the words “white supremacists” stung. Being called racist moved the crowd in an audible gasp. (I think the BLM of Seattle speakers knew it was highly unlikely that a real white supremacist was in the 10,000+ strong crowd there to hear Bernie Sanders talk about the 70th anniversary of Social-Security in the USA.)

I think BLM Seattle achieved their goal. We are listening … and talking now.

Some I know say they were insulted by what the BLM protestors got up and said in Seattle that day. I am insulted by the fact that police kill black Americans at nearly the same rate as Jim Crow-era lynchings. I am offended that charges are rarely filed against police officers and that convictions are even rarer. I am outraged and embarrassed that this is happening in my own country and that we white Americans can so easily disregard repeated instances of injustice toward people of color, just because we are part of the power majority in this country.

I support Bernie Sanders for president, and I am an ally of the Black Lives Matter movement because there needs to be a drastic change in this country. I am proud of what both groups have been courageous enough to get up and consistently speak aloud.

We need to listen and continue the conversation.

— Alix Clarke