WARNING: THIS ESSAY IS HEAVILY POLITICAL AND IS ABOUT THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ THIS ESSAY FOR THAT REASON, THEN DO NOT READ IT.

Isabel Wilkerson, the author of Where Do We Go from Here?, is an African-American, Pulitzer Prize, and National Humanities Medal winner. Wilkerson also wrote the award-winning The Warmth of Other Suns and UK-bestselling Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents, both of which are nonfiction novels that examine the hardships of the African American community throughout American history (isabelwilkerson.com).

Like all the essays in The Fire This Time, Where Do We Go from Here? was written following the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson and of Eric Garner in Staten Island. Using these tragic events as a starting context, it traces the history of how white people have reacted after any form of black achievement, going as far back as the Jim Crow laws. More specifically, the essay states that as a country, we are in a "continuing feedback loop of repeating a past" we have not yet addressed.

Wilkerson's primary audience is the African American community in the U.S. This is best seen when she states that they "must love [themselves] even if -- and perhaps especially if -- others do not", referencing the hardship African Americans must face even now from the white population.

The purpose of this essay is to point out that despite the advancements African Americans have made in their fight for equality, the white majority continuously works to undermine their achievements and reduce the rights that African Americans have. This is seen throughout the essay, as Wilkerson provides examples of attempts made to restrict African American rights. For example, despite the impact that the Great Migration had on the civil rights movement, the North provided hostility similar to that which had been found in the South. These hostilities included over-policing, which is present in society today as seen in the two killings that instigated the writing of Where Do We Go from Here? and, more recently, the murder of Gorge Floyd in Minneapolis.

The main topic of this essay is that despite the advancements made in the African American civil rights movement, the community's achievements are still contested by America's white population today. A subtopic, which is utilized to support this, is that unless this systematic racism is purged from the country, and restrictions of basic rights and the senseless deaths will continue.

Wilkerson's tone is serious, but not in a manner that calls for change. This is best illustrated in the final paragraph of the essay, where, after describing the history of acts of racism and violence against African Americans, she doesn't call for change. Instead, Wilkerson declares that despite all the hate African Americans must live through, they can, and will, survive.

Out of all the essays in the first part of The Fire This Time, I chose to analyze Wilkerson's Where Do We Go from Here?. This decision came after reading her final paragraph, where she tells her African American readers that despite all the hate thrown at them, they must remember to love themselves. She argues that despite all the violence, all the systematic racism in this country, they will survive. This final paragraph is inspiring, yes, but also saddening. In spite of her passionate argument, Wilkerson seems resigned to only being able to change her own outlook. Considering her profession, this is concerning. However, it wasn't just this tone that made me choose Wilkerson's essay. In light of the George Floyd murder that occurred earlier this year, Wilkerson's outline of centuries-long racism and white resistance to change made me realize how deeply-rooted all of this is.

Garnette Cadogan, the essayist who wrote Black and Blue, was included in a 2017 list of 29 writers from around the world that "represent the future of new writing". He was also a 2017-2018 Martin Luther King Jr. Visiting Scholar at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and a Visiting Scholar at NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge. Including his contribution to The Fire This Time, Cadogan has also written for works such as Tales of Two Cities: The Best and Worst of Times in Today's New York by John Freeman (iasculture.org).

While every essay in The Fire This Time is at least slightly attributed to the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, Black and Blue is focused on Cadogan's personal experiences with racist profiling. Throughout the essay, Cadogan compares his experience of walking at night in Jamaica to walking at night in both New Orleans and New York City, the former forcing him to change how he behaves on his nightly walks while the latter caused him to change his behavior again and, at one point, be assaulted by the NYPD when they suspected him of being a criminal that had stabbed someone.

Like many essays in The Fire This Time, Cadogan's Black and Blue had no specific audience. Rather, his experiences are directed to anyone who may read his writing, providing insight to those who have neither been nor even had to worry about being on the receiving end of racist policing. This is exemplified throughout the essay, however, may be best seen when Cadogan directly compares how different it is for him to walk in the United States compared to walking in Jamaica.

Black and Blue's purpose is clear the moment the comparisons begin. It provides its readers with clear proof that the United States' police system is inherently racist compared to other countries. This may appear to be an overgeneralization, but what we don't know, as seen with the recent revelation of Daniel Prude's murder in Rochester, is how many of these cases have gone unreported. While Cadogan explains his lack of worry about being wrongfully targeted by Jamaican police, he also states experiencing the direct opposite when he would walk the streets of both New York and New Orleans.

Like all essays in The Fire This Time, Black and Blue is about the systematic racism in this country. More specifically, Black and Blue highlights the way that racism surfaces in the police force. This is present throughout the essay, although it is most exemplified when Cadogan recounts specific occurrences where American police officers directed their hostilities towards him, such as when he had almost been wrongfully arrested by the NYPD.

Cadogan's tone is a mix of serious and sad, seen both in his comparisons and the general commentary of his experiences. Even when he jokes about the police force's outlook on African Americans, there is a hint of sadness. More specifically, Cadogan states that he jokes about the police when he's most frustrated by them, feeding into the truth that there is indeed systematic racism in America's police force, and people like Cadogan must live through it day by day.

Like all of the other essays in The Fire This Time, I am reminded of an undeniable fact about this country: day by day, people are harmed by racism that is so deeply rooted that it surfaces blatantly in government officials who possess the capacity to directly harm and kill innocent civilians. However, with the stories that Cadogan recounts in his writing, rather than the more abstract telling of other authors, this fact is even more pronounced. Cadogan leaves himself with an inexorable choice: he must either sacrifice one of his favorite activities or live in fear as he takes his walks, and is one that horrifies me. I am horrified that anyone must be afraid of being wrongfully detained, or even shot, simply because he was going about his day. And in light of the recent George Floyd murder, Cadogan's essay hits even harder.

Daniel Jose Older, the author of This Far: Notes on Love and Revolution, is a New York Times bestselling author who wrote the Dactyl Hill Squad series, The Book of Lost Saints, the award-winning Shadow Cypher series, the Bone Street Rumba series, and Star Wars: The Last Shot. Along with being an author, Older worked as a paramedic for a decade and occasionally publishes stories of his experience on his website (danieljoseolder.net).

Like all other essays in The Fire This Time, This Far: Notes on Love and Revolution was written in response to the shooting of Michael Brown. However, this essay also draws from Older's experiences in the Black Lives Matter movement. This is exemplified in his experiences of marching in protest and when he saw people on the Internet join together to express the need for change.

Due do how Older recounts his experiences, This Far: Notes on Love and Revolution has no specific audience, despite it being a letter addressed to someone known as Nastassian. Rather, his recounting of the number of people who rallied behind Black Lives Matter shows his readers how quickly people can be united to stop further tragedies. Older's recounting of the Black Lives Matter protests following Michael Brown's murder illustrates the magnitude of its impact: marches so great in number that the Manhattan Bridge was shut down.

Three instances of This Far's illustrate that when something is genuinely wrong and needs to change, people will rally together to express that need. This first instance is Older's experiences while marching for Black Lives Matter, protests that spread not just throughout the United States, but worldwide. There was also the media outcry, filling the Internet and journals. However, there is a fourth instance that is not connected to Black Lives Matter: the fallout of 9/11, which prompted the government to substantially tighten airport security.

Like the other essays in The Fire This Time, This Far focuses on the systematic racism that surfaces in the police force. However, unlike most of these essays, This Far emphasizes the movement that this brutality sparked. Throughout the essay, Older recounts the public outcry caused by the murder of Michael Brown, from marches numbering the thousands to an uncountable volume of people swarming the Internet to show their support.

Despite the pain of these events, Older's This Far: Notes on Love and Revolution has a hopeful tone, amplifying his belief that so long as people are united, any problem can be overcome. Older's imagery, such as describing the Black Lives Matter march as "an unruly snake.... an army of flashing blue lights at our backs," represents not only the impact of the march itself but also the number of people who rallied behind the movement.

Out of all the essays in The Fire This Time, it was easiest to relate to This Far. The protests sparked by George Floyd's murder parallel those caused by Michael Brown's, with not only thousands of people marching across the nation, but countless others rallying worldwide to state an undeniable fact: black lives matter. Similar to the march Older attended, the police tailed protesters in the U.S., although unlike Older's march, brutality followed. People were struck by rubber bullets, forced to exercise their right of free speech in a fog of tear gas. While the police tailed the march Older attended, he recounts no direct attack from them. However, it was not just these similarities, which may end up in history books, that resonated with me. Older writes that because he is a straight cisgender man who is light-skinned enough to appear white, he profits from this racism. While I am not a person of color, I, too, profit from this white privilege. Like Older, I profit from the hatred bred in the core of our country, cultivated in our very education. The fact that I have more opportunities and can feel a little safer just because of my skin color disgusts me. After all, how is that in any way the equality our nation is meant to stand for?