Is change possible?

Is change possible?

In the aftermath of the St. Louis County grand jury's decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, I'm not so sure.

At the very least, I see no clear path to a better conversation on race, class, privilege and the abuse of power.

Institutional racism doesn't still just exist, it thrives but there are so many people who don't see it that way, who will deny it without pause.

There are so many people--way too many fucking people--who will wholesale accept the official version of this story, despite so many conflicting accounts to the contrary. Despite physical evidence to the contrary.

Those people will continue to not just say that Wilson was justified in shooting an 18-year-old kid, but that Brown essentially got what he deserved. I'm not making this shit up. I've read it more than once on Facebook, on Twitter, on Huffington Post, in the comments section of so many online news sources.

Those people will say that no trial was needed. That Michael Brown doesn't need anyone to defend his life, much less question his death.

Those people will say that racism is a myth. Or, at the very least, over-blown.

I can't even begin to list the upsetting things I've read online today. Some of them written by people I know. Some of those words are horrible and vile. Others are simply ignorant, willfully or otherwise. I'm still trying to decide which category (horrible and vile vs. ignorant) is more heartbreaking.

And I don't even want to get started on the riots. If you think the riots are the problem here, you clearly haven't been paying attention to the story--to the stories--that led up to them.

Meanwhile, I'm grateful for those who are still out on the streets protesting, making their voices heard. I'm thankful for those who refuse to let Michael Brown's life fade into obscurity. For those who refuse to let him become just another statistic.

I'm grateful for those who refuse to accept the status quo, the official version of a story.

Those are the people who will and do make change possible.