(Disclaimer) I am a privileged white heterosexual male, so I cannot speak nor do I wish to speak for the deep, entrenched existential and historical roots that the #BlackLivesMatter movement has emerged to address.

When the #BlackLivesMatter movement first emerged, I too responded with “AllLivesMatter.” Over time, and from many, MANY conversations with trusted colleagues and loved ones, my understanding has become thus:

Firstly, the movement need not rename itself simply for the convenience of others. Indeed, the fact that it evokes such vehement reprisal with AllLivesMatter from some is precisely the ignorance (and I mean ignorance in the sense of "not knowing" - something that can be alleviated with knowledge - rather than the negative connotations it has gained in society) it seeks to address. The interpretation that #BlackLivesMatter includes the premise that "all other lives must not matter" is a facet of such ignorance. #BlackLivesMatter speaks to the need that many People of Color feel to assert that their lives matter, because - given the killings broadcasted on the news and even antiquated media tropes - PoC often FEEL that their lives do not matter, because they are surrounded by imagery, stereotypes, microaggressions, standards of beauty, instatutional racism, language, etc. that, taken together, suggest that one's life is of lesser value in comparison to all others by virtue of the color of one's skin. We might be able to say, "Of course your life matters!" but that comes from a place of privelage AND it denies ample evidence to the contrary. The premise is not supported by the conclusion! Imagine, for just a moment, what it must feel like to navigate the world under such constant awareness. #BlackLivesMatter speaks to the need for such empathy. It is a yearning that one's soul as a PoC screams daily in the face of such evidence made visual in the hope that the world will reorient itself around it; in the hope that one will not feel the need to assert it.

Secondly, one's interpretation of #BlackLivesMatter doesn't matter. Just as one's assertion that one is hurt makes another's response of "no you're not" irrelevant, so does responding to #BlackLivesMatter with AllLivesMatter become irrelevant. It is just another layer of devaluation, collapsing a historically silenced voice further into the silence of an idealized absolute. Of course all lives matter! Few would refute such a premise objectively. Do the facts in reality support such a claim? As previously stated, for many, they do not. If one struggles to understand the need for #BlackLivesMatter one should take it upon themselves to ask questions, to engage in open dialogue, and NOT dismiss it upon such ignorance. We MUST take it upon ourselves to confront our own ignorance. (And that is not to say that one is entitled to be educated, because NO PoC should EVER have to feel obligated to educate anyone). To uproot our own biases, privilege, racism, prejudice, narrow perspectives, lack of understanding, empathy, etc. is a personal responsibility that ALL OF US - as citizens of this world and as a collective humanity - must have the courage and the strength to take upon ourselves. To be fearless in shedding light on our darkness.