- My name is Denarius. - I'm 27 years old.

- I'm a 17 year old.

- From Washington DC.

- My name's Dominique.

And I'm one of the producers at Great Big Story.

We understand the importance of amplifying Black voices,

so we reached out to people from all over the country

to hear what they had to say.

This is what they wish you knew.

- I wish you knew. - I wish you knew.

- I wish you knew. - I wish you knew.

- I wish you knew. - I wish you knew.

- [Tyler] I wish people knew

just how much I love being Black.

My name is Tyler Gibson and I'm a son,

a brother, and a husband.

For as many positive experiences I have,

I think I have just as many, if not more,

negative experiences where someone tried to take

that joy of being Black away from me.

Over time, all those negative experiences build up.

I've just become numb to it.

- [Alexa] My name is Alexa Chanelle Achille,

and I'm a special education teacher.

I want people to understand that black is a big word.

It shouldn't be confined to one culture

or one type of people.

If you are filled with melanin, you are Black.

That's an okay thing to be.

It's okay to be Black.

Call me what I am.

- [Archie] My name is Archie Page,

and I am a queer storyteller.

It's like you're having a regular day

and then a senseless murder like Trayvon Martin's happens,

and you think that could easily have been me.

You think, it's gonna to be dark outside soon,

should I even bother wearing a hoodie

or will I risk getting shot?

In spite of all of that, for me being Black is a gift.

I want people to know that to be Black in America

is to know I've inherited a legacy

of courage and resilience.

- [Rasheera] My name is Rasheera Dopson,

and I am a philanthropist who is disabled.

There are 53 million disabled Americans.

And out of those 53 million,

5.6 are disabled Black Americans.

How odd it is to be a minority within a minority group.

It's almost like you feel invisible twice.

- [Denarius] My name is Denarius Frazier,

and I teach Black and Brown students.

I wish you knew that there is a stark difference

between empathy and sympathy.

No one needs your pity, no one needs your sorrow.

We have enough of that.

Something about melanin, something about Blackness

evokes this visceral fear.

That's the one side that's leading to

the senseless killings and murder of those people.

This fear, something that does not exist in reality,

it is a figment of our imagination

that leads to people actually dying.

Just crazy.

I hope that people can muster up enough courage

to never give up on leading people out of ignorance.

(people chanting)

- [Bria] My name is Bria Randal,

and I work in human resources.

I was 13 years old at my first big slumber party.

The girls and I were sitting around popcorn

watching a movie.

And as I reached to get some more popcorn

a girl across from me said,

your hands make you look like a gorilla.

And I'd never heard anything like that before.

I think what hurt worse than her saying that hateful comment

was the fact that not one person stood up for me.

- [Chelsea] My name is Chelsea, and I'm a medical student.

It shouldn't take murder for you

to advocate for your fellow human.

If this is the first time that you're actually giving a damn

and taking action in regards to Black issues,

then I want you to understand and respect that

that is where you are in your evolution.

- [People] Say their names!

- [Ramona] My name is Ramona Lindsey,

and I've been a nurse for 50 years.

This country that I love so dearly

is still mired in undeserved and useless prejudices.

Now is the time to share these experiences

in hopes you see the past and the similarities to now.

That is the only way to help change the future.

- [Charmaine] My name is Charmaine Shuford,

and I am an English and history teacher.

I wish you knew how much it hurts to see fellow Black people

suffer at the hands of people

who don't take the time to understand them.

And you meet one Black person,

you've literally only met one Black person.

- [Jozina] My name is Jozina Campbell,

and I am a multifaceted creative.

We get killed, we get knelt on, spit on,

dirt thrown on our name, falsely accused, you name it.

And somehow we still pull up

and show up as a culture, every single time.

We keep going, reminded that we are kings and queens first.

So don't let up, say it at the top of your lungs,

apply pressure, let it be known

who deserves to be in the room, every single room.

I wish you knew that we are human too.

- [Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.] We hold these truths

to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

(people cheering)