Black. Lives. Matter.

The single hardest thing about being here, 8,000 miles from the USA has been watching the news come in. Seeing week after week similar stories play out in different cities of unarmed black men shot and killed by white cops.

Seeing a country, across skin color, finally start to get fed up enough to start yelling about it. Together. To see NYC shut down, the Brooklyn Bridge covered with I Can’t Breathe.

To be 8,000 miles away without an American in sight, and not be able to contribute in any way. And so this will be my contribution: a request that whoever you are, wherever in the U.S. you live, that you get out there in the way that’s right for you, and make your voice heard.

Moments like these are rare, when the tide against injustice pushes in strongly enough that it might actually induce change. When the things we talk about last longer than a quick hashtag. This is one of those times. And it’s genuinely up to each one of us to make sure that tide doesn’t recede without having changed something.

A man in New York choked another man to death, on camera and won’t face trial. No matter who you are, that should bother you. And this isn’t just about killing (though that should be more than enough.) Black boys and black girls are disciplined more harshly and more often than their white peers. The net worth of a white household is 13x that of a black household, and it’s getting worse. In America, one in every 106 white men over 18 is incarcerated. For black men, it’s one in 15. Let that sink in. Think of 15 white men you know. If all of them were black, on average one would be incarcerated at all times.

This is not a just world. This is not a world I want to exist. I suspect the same goes for you. So, please get out there, and engage.

Ok, Steven I’m with you. But how?? I don’t even know where to start!

I’m a white man living in Thailand. I have no idea what the right answer is, and I strongly suspect there isn’t a “right way” to engage. So stop worrying about it, and just do this:

Engage. Honestly, as yourself, the person who gives a shit.

Do what feels right for you. Want to yell? Go participate in non-violent protests. Not your scene? Be the person who breaks the silence, and talk to your friends about it. Brainstorm together what you can do. Socially shy? Write hand-written letters to every member of government you can think of. Have a platform where people can hear you? Use it.

Pick one tangible thing that plays to your strengths as a person and do it.

This was the first thing on my list. What’s yours?