Yomi Ṣode

This bus was packed.

Not a soul asked me if I was okay.

Not a soul offered me a tissue, nothing.

I have seen dogs cry.

I've seen dogs whimper.

And I've seen people, is everything all right?

Is everything okay?

And I was just like, wow, this is really interesting.

So for me, in that sense of the energy, just exploring grief,

was for me, I just wanted to show or highlight a side of black men that I feel has been stereotyped over time that doesn't allow room for vulnerability, that doesn't allow room to be like, oh.

But it's also so amplified that should you see a black man cry, you don't know what to do.

based off the back of the mammoth load of stereotypes and stigmas over time that has now kind of led to, when you're faced with this, you're kind of struck with, where do we go from here?

So part of, for me, for that third section, was how do I go through these different modes of...

There's a type of grief and there's a type of awakening that I'm trying to do.

And for me, it was trying to work between the two things.

Yes, I'm losing a family member.

But at the same time, I'm trying to really highlight that it's me and my cousin that are processing this.

And I am here for him and he's here for me.

And how does everyone else kind of take to that situation?

Should the call to action going forward from here or reading that in a book?