I was forced to sit with my thoughts and think on why my question didn’t even deserve a response.

At this point, we’ve had numerous conversations with him—even within the last month, about the dangers of propping up whiteness and shuffling for white acceptance.

It sounds and looks nice, just like the Black Lives Matter murals painted in yellow across our MLK Blvds.

What also makes this painful is the evidence that for many cis-genered Black men, the goal remains to obtain and preserve the aspirations of the “American Dream” or the “white picket fence.”

For others who do not identify as cis-gendered or male, there is no pathway in this place or home we call America.