My heart is aching, my soul feels broken and my spirit is gone. Today, I grieve for my home and for my people. Today, I finally understand the pain my mother felt when she was crying for her motherland. Today, I finally understand what it feels like to see one’s home being destroyed. Today, my heart feels broken because I am tired of seeing all of my brothers and sisters falling down to the ground like flies. Every day, my country cries as she watches her children killing one another.

I am afraid. I am afraid because my motherland continues to drown in a pool of blood. I feel so useless, and I feel my hope slowly slipping away. The only hope left inside of me is the hope that God is listening to my prayers. In God we trust, and today I am putting my trust in Him and hoping He hears the cries of my county. I hope soon we’ll all open our eyes and realize the only way to make things better is by loving one another.

We all grew up here, and we were all raised here. We all call America our home, and we all -- at one point in our lives -- stood up together as we united our voices to pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. We have all been a part of one, so why are we killing each other and breaking away from each other? Why are we allowing hate to get in the way of fulfilling the dream of making America the land of hopes and dreams?

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr.

When are we going to finally comprehend that we have to love one another in order to live in peace and prosper? We need to unite and let the ones living in fear know that we stand by them and that by sticking together we will drive out the darkness. Instead of allowing social media to persuade us to pick a side based on events going on outside of our communities; we should all unite within our community to makes sure things like that do not occur where we live.

We need to take a hard look at the evil surrounding us and learn from it. Instead of picking sides and finding someone to blame we should try to listen and find a solution. Love and kindness can go a long way. We don’t have to pick sides; what we do need to do is stand up for what is right. We need to love one another and learn to respect our differences. We have to look towards the light and start working together to defeat the darkness. I, too, have a dream that my future children “will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I also have a dream, and that is why I am choosing love and respect over hate and intolerance. I am tired of watching my country cry for the children she continues to lose.