Max Zanga,
Tebi Rex

I remember when I first heard the story of Elijah McClain, a 23 year-old black American killed by the police in Aurora, Colorado. I cried for hours. It’s not something I normally do – cry that is. The lockdown probably didn’t help. I just remember crying in my living room, crying in the shower, crying while cooking dinner and crying as I was going to bed. I cried so much. More than when my friend Ryan died. More than when Louise died. All for this person I didn’t know and had never met. Bizarre.

Elijah McClain was so far removed from my world, yet I felt so connected to him still. Maybe it was a selfish thing, that I saw so much of myself in this person. That it wasn’t a medical thing – something ultimately out of our control – but rather a decision made by another person. The human element is what made it more gruesome or tragic. I worry that explaining why racism is bad and diversity good can be a pointless endeavour a lot of the time. Usually, it boils down to the human element. How someone feels about X, how someone feels about the other. I feel sad and tired sometimes. I feel happy occasionally. I feel connected, always.

Read Part 1 of 100 Voices: #AllAgainstRacism, in the current issue of Hot Press. Available to pick up in shops now, or to order online below:

Special thanks to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission for their support in this project.