"In college in Massachusetts at Wheaton (College), someone asked me why Black people play the race card all the time, [saying] race doesn't matter. [Hearing that constantly] was traumatizing. 'The race card; the race card.' Every time I hear that, it irks me."

"Two weeks into my orientation, I was questioned by a fellow Trinity (University) student about my intelligence, and why I was in the school. He noticed I was one of only ten Black people and I was part of their affirmative action process to get into school.”

My first conscious memories of racism began in high school in San Antonio when a Latino student would regularly mock me, claiming that I have big lips. Later in life, a police stop in New York City was, by far, the most disturbing experience.

“Sincerely and reluctantly, I am a primary example of a public health crisis of racism. And that predates the Covid-19 pandemic.”