To my conscious Caucasian sister,

I love you. I do. I know the last few weeks have been hard on you. I know your faith, your sense of security in your country has been completely dismantled unexpectedly. I know the feeling of helplessness, fear, and angst you are experiencing right now-for yourself, your family, and your future. I know these feelings very well because I was born into them by way of all those before me who have witnessed the heights of bigotry that I can barely imagine.

I stand right beside you in daily disgust watching a divisive, perverse, underqualified man beat out an accomplished, brilliant woman as Leader of the Free World. I am here, willingly holding your hand for the next four years, despite my distrust after feeling like I was alone in this civil rights fight until now.

I appreciate your courage in not only using your voice (and privilege) for calling out your own community, but doing it openly. I appreciate you having those uncomfortable realizations of where you have fallen short and been civically disengaged as I cried injustice following the wrongful deaths of Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, and many more before and after them.

I love you. I do. I love you enough to tell you how historically your predecessors' passive aggressiveness has been a silent carrier of prejudice, hatefulness, and separatism that has pained me and devastated lives and livelihoods in my community for centuries.

I love me enough to admit to you that I am not always perfect, either. I know there are times when I shun your genuine acts of solidarity, as I am calloused after years of being treated differently and less valuable than you. While I am strong, I am wounded. While I am weary, I am infallible. Know that each time you acknowledge my truth-instead of dismissing it or only aligning with me when it fits your agenda- it helps the healing process begin.

But promise me you will not stop there.

Sis, I am writing you this letter to let you know your voice is needed now more than ever--as it reaches places my voice simply cannot penetrate, like at your family dinner table or late-night pillow talk with your partner. It is your time now to take a lead in this fight, and leverage the power of your influence to end the the spirit of hate and division that is plaguing the nation and effecting us all. Now is the time for YOU to mobilize with everything you have, the same way my foremothers have done since their existence.

I appreciate you; I truly do.

Now, go recruit more women just like you. We will need them, too.

Signed,

A Disenchanted but Optimistic Black Woman

Dear Woke White Women, I Love You