I've been silent because I've been listening. To everything going on around me. To those who are talking. And to those who are not talking. To what they're saying about my people. That they want to complete the genocide their grandfathers started. When I heard this the first time, I couldn't speak. I couldn't write. I felt pain in my bones. Pain my ancestors passed down to me. Trauma. I felt their pain on my skin. I felt it all over my body. I've been listening. Watching. Observing. I have learned that deep pain creates deep compassion. And when I see a group of people, strangers or friends, being hurt, threatened, or treated atrociously, I will not be silent. I will speak up. I will be loud. I will extend my hands, my kind words, my compassion. Because I want them to know someone sees them. Someone cares about them. Someone hears them. And they won't know that, if I stay quiet. If I stay comfortable.