At the library where I work with teens, this note was left in our suggestion box:

Sometimes, You've Got To Talk

Sometimes, the larger world is too important not to comment on.

Yesterday, a teen I've never met before comes into the Library's teen room and wants to talk. She started so simply...

She asked, "can I ask you as question?" 

I replied, "you can ask me anything," and that's all it took.

She asked why things like what happened in Orlando and to Alton Sterling (among so many others) are allowed to happen. Sometimes, all I can say is, 'I don't know.'

We discussed how Louisiana is an open carry state and how if Alton had been white this probably would not have happened and how she is scared for her brother because he looks black and how she's scared that her family will be deported even though they're legal and why can't people just treat each other better and then she wondered about the club in Orlando and why would anyone want to hurt people while they were having a good time and how can she feel safe... it went on for a while. Then she had to go, but she thanked me for letting her talk 'cause nobody else wanted to talk about any of it.

I wish I could explain the whys. But sometimes, the best I can do is listen.