I have spent nearly 20 years of my life doing social justice work, fighting alongside others to dismantle various systems of oppression. Most of this work is done in the classroom and some of it done as a writer.

Throughout that time, I have been accused of brainwashing. I have been accused of religious malpractice. I have been accused of reverse racism.   I have been accused of being too sensitive, too radical, too soft, too angry, and too biased—and if all this were actually true, then I’d say accomplishing all this at the same time would have been quite impressive.   Such charges came from either people of color unready to change or white people who thought they’d changed enough. Even though I can count these moments on one hand, the wounds left behind are real and have required some time to heal.