That’s when I see it in their eyes: they were waiting for me to find my voice and call on them. I see it so clearly in my head now. All the times I thought I was too weak to reach for what I wanted, what I needed, was time wasted. I won’t waste any more time doubting myself. I am not a disappointment to Afros everywhere. I’m a freaking savage!

I run to the back room and unlock the door. My friends all look at me, startled. I don’t have time to explain.

“Did you find the last key? Did you open the box?” they ask.

“Yeah. I found what I was looking for.”

“What was in the box?” Devonte asks.

“Me.”

My friends immediately put a call in to just about everyone they know to give my instructions on what to put on the posters we’re going to take down to the protest. We hit up everyone in our school, and they are all willing to help.

The Knights are going to meet us with large speakers and mics and, of course, music. The Narcs—with their perfectly laid weaves and sculpted eyebrows—will be doing an Insta Live on the steps of the police station. They call for their followers to come and get their political activism on. The Vintage group—Mario Bros. forever!—will be there, as well as the basketball players, cheerleaders, and basically the whole school.

We also reach out to the Generals—they are bringing their entire domino group, which turns out to be larger than I thought. The Water Ladies only do “civil” protests, but this time, they are showing up and showing out with their flare skirts and “God Don’t Like Ugly” T-shirts.

But the ones that will stand out the most are a group of about two hundred Black women dressed like Spock. Tonight is their annual meetup, and they asked if they could go dressed the way they are, and we said, “Hell yes.”

I call Nate and ask that there be megaphones for us to pass out to some of the members of See Us and the crowd. I ask Milton to gather info I need for my speech and to meet us in front of the police station.

Once we’re there, the scene is unreal. All of Harlem has come out to fight, rage, and call out the system that seeks to end them. I find my uncle and assure him that I am okay about speaking to the crowd. The certainty in my voice throws him for a moment, and then he smiles to himself.

“What is it?” I ask.

“I see her. Right there, just now. I saw her in your eyes. You are ready.”

Facts.