Calling for change.

When Hana Berhanu stepped up to the mic in front of hundreds at a Castle Rock protest held in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, she first spoke about the anxiety she felt in deciding what to share that afternoon.

Berhanu didn’t know if she should talk about the secret friend she had in second grade, who continued playing with her despite the child’s parents forbidding it because Berhanu is Black.

She could discuss the first time someone told her to “go back to where you came from,” Berhanu said. Or, she could talk about what it felt like, more recently, watching her hometown of Minneapolis burn on television, her longing to be there in person, protesting alongside loved ones, she said.

Instead, she decided to take the advice of a friend, she said, and say what was most on her heart. With that, Berhanu turned away from the crowd, leaned deep into the microphone and let out an agonizing scream.

“I’ve been wanting to scream for two weeks now,” she said to applause. “This is my pain. I am coming to you with my pain.”

Read the full story here.