You start from the beginning

and move to the end.

Before you speak

you need to learn the words.

Before you eat

you need to know how to swallow.

In a video game

you start at level one

and slowly make your way up.

But somehow, humanity

has skipped all the levels in between.

We freed the slaves.

Yet a little girl was still bullied because of the colour of her skin.

We won the wars.

Yet a young boy was still sent to jail because of the colour of his skin.

We built skyscrapers.

Yet a woman was still unemployed because of the colour of her skin.

We travelled to space.

Yet a man was still murdered because of the colour of his skin.

We have done so much.

Yet somewhere in between,

we missed a level or two.

What is the point?

What have we accomplished?

We have not moved an inch from where we began.

To go back, we must start over.

We must admit that we were wrong.

We must begin at the bottom,

in order to work our way up.

We must face the challenges that

we desperately hide from.

And this time around,

we shall skip no levels.