It's funny how the world has different time zones,

how it could be Saturday on this side of the world and Friday somewhere else.

Yet somehow, the United States of America is stuck in 1920.

That was a hundred years ago,

yet we're still fighting for our lives,

for a place here.

(Jolia is 11 years old)

(This is the speech she gave at her fifth-grade graduation in June 2020.)

What did we ever do to make them hate us so much?

I know for a fact they love our culture. They love to steal our braids, the way we talk, anything we call ours.

But when it's that one white bad cop and that one innocent Black person, that Black person fears for their life.

This is the world we live in.

See, when I was younger, teachers used to ask kids what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Some kids said "famous." I was one of those kids.

But now I change my answer. The thing I want to be when I grow up is alive.

How do I know that I'm gonna make it out alive if I'm suspicious doing nothing?

If I'm suspicious when I'm at my own house sleeping in my own bed.

Why am I suspicious?

Because I could have sworn from one to three I was the cutest thing.

But when did I stop being cute and start being scary?

Am I scary if I have a black hoodie? Am I scary if I wear a backpack?

Am I scary if I do nothing?

Am I scary? Does my dad scare you? Does my mom scare you? Does my auntie scare you?

Because let me tell you something: we are not scary.

(Black Americans killed by police)

Say their names.

You will earn my respect when I don't have to fear for my life or anybody else's.

Until then, my respect will not come for free.

(Black Lives Matter)