The past few days have been sobering, grief stricken, and upsetting. There are layers upon layers of racism, silencing, disregard, and oppression that have boiled over into the streets of my beloved city. On Tuesday night, my wife and I stood in peaceful protest and solidarity on Chicago Avenue -for those friends of mine who live elsewhere, these events are fairly close to our home. We left before the marching began and like many of you, have witnessed the uprising that has followed.

Today, there were several moments in which I almost posted some frustrated rant about protesting peacefully or stopping the criminal looting. And yet, I am familiar with so little of the pain that my brothers and sisters in the black community have lived with for decades in this city. And so for me, today has been a day to listen... To research parts of the story and history that I am ashamed to say I did not fully know... It has been a day of reflection... a day to examine my own motives, prejudices, and shortcomings.

In 2016, I wrote a song called 'You Are Not Alone' after the Philando Castile murder. It is a song of solidarity, repentance, and love. My prayer is for peace, true peace in this city. That only stems from hard conversations, deconstruction of unjust systems, and a commitment to listening.