Here is what I have learned in my short lifetime. We are in this together. I knew this when I was a child afraid of Maitesine, when I have been an adult in my partner office crying because boko haram was killing people and I couldn't reach my family, or when I saw my family members grieve loved ones lost in the so-called civil war in Sierra Leone.

I also learned that we must speak for each other. I am not gay or transgender. But I will speak for our brethren who are LGBT. Because they are as deserving of dignity, love and respect as every other human being made in the image of God. I will speak for my Muslim neighbors because in my heart dance memories of the people who have loved me the most who are Muslim, and because they are covered by grace as am I. I will speak because the darkness cannot survive the light. I will speak because courage is a practice. And in a political environment where people draw artificial barriers between work and life, where we don't discuss social justice issues, I know that my failure to speak will inevitably lead to me being silent when I should not.

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