I want to live in a world where I can breathe…

Inhale the good stuff and exhale the bullshit; There’s been a lot of that the last few years.

I want to live in a bubble.

I want to walk down a road where no one is afraid of my power; no one questions my right to be there, no one questions my motive – because I don’t have one.

In this bubble, I want to wear whatever I feel like without people casting aspersions trying to burst my bubble. I’m not a thug because I’m in a mood to wear a hoodie and jeans. I’m not a hoe because I’m wearing strapped heels and shiny leggings. I’m not a vagrant (bum) because I felt like slipping on my rubba ding dings and a shorts. I’m a human, living in a bubble, wearing my clothes.

I want to live in a bubble where I’m asking an attendant something and I’m not invisible because I can’t understand how hard it is for me to get her attention. It’ll be a neon bubble so I won’t be invisible to the other customer either who also wants assistance but clearly didn’t see me there and interrupts instead of waiting… Like what?

I want to live in a bubble and wander in a store trying to decide if I should really buy this peach clutch that will pair so beautifully with my peach pumps that I bought 2 years ago but haven’t worn as yet… BUT I WILL..if I buy this clutch.

But I really want to live in a bubble because the store clerk is eyeing me and watching my every move but ignoring everyone else in the store. When she should really be paying mind elsewhere cause A) I would never leave an establishment without paying for what’s mine, B) that guy in the back looks pretty suspicious to me and C) I don’t think this is the right shade of peach anyway…

I want to live in a bubble in which I justify my actions and it’s not seen as defensive from an angry black girl (I’m not an angry black WOMAN because of my size and age but that’s a conversation for another time).

I want to live in a bubble where everyone gets the same opportunity and I don’t feel like I have to prove myself even more because I’m a shade or four darker.

I want to live in a colourless bubble because the world loves the illusion of a rainbow but can’t do it justice. Why can’t we echo its harmonious nature in the beauty in its varied and united colours?

I want to live in a bubble, in a world where we can do the same things and it’s perceived the same way. A brown person walking the street, a yellow person walking the street, a white person walking the street and a black person walking the street are all just people walking the street.

I want to live in a bubble, a world in which there is not excessive force used against me due to my darker hue.

I want to live in a bubble because I’m tired of being forced to fit into your box of what a black student should be…of what a black woman should be… of what a black entrepreneur should be.

I was born as a human unbox me, I want to live just like you live do… WITHOUT fear… in a world of EQUALITY, a world of RESPECT.

I want to live in a bubble because right now I feel like I’m living in a box and that everyone wants to put me in that box below…
I CAN’T BREATHE.