"I am black. I am angry. I am peaceful."

The following text is a guest column written by Brandy Donaldson, published in the Rock Island Argus/Moline Dispatch newspapers and on qconline.com on May 3, 2015.

I am black. I am angry. I am peaceful. Like many, I have been glued to social media and television news, watching in horror as events unfold in Baltimore. These are certainly unsettling sights to behold as the media shines the spotlight on looting and rioting in the streets. What’s even more unsettling, however, is the lack of equal coverage to the peaceful protesting against police brutality and the unlawful loss of life at police hands that is taking place nationwide. It also is unsettling to read the bevy of social media posts and news article comments from those who seem to care more for the loss of insured property than they do for the unlawful loss of human life. I have to wonder what the reaction of those same people would be if the skin color of Freddie Gray, Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Mike Brown or any of the other countless unarmed individuals slain by police recently was not black, and if the officers who killed them were. I’m guessing reactions would be different, but that’s just a hypothesis. More important than that hypothesis are facts.

What has occurred in Baltimore, Chicago and Ferguson could easily be in our backyard tomorrow. I tremble at the thought, but my brother, sister, nephew, cousin, niece or even I could be the next Gray, Boyd, Garner or Brown. It also makes me angry and frustrated as an American, more specifically a black American. We should all be angry that in this country, the black experience and the white experience are still miles apart. It is a harsh reality, but one we cannot ignore.

I don't and never will condone violence or rioting, just as I don’t and never will condone racism, bigotry or hate. I do, however, understand the anger and frustration being felt in these communities where black lives appear to be wholly disregarded and justice is not being served. I feel that anger myself. This is an anger and frustration deeply rooted in the black experience in this country, an experience marred by a long history of systematic abuse and inequality.

This is America, where not so long ago black people were enslaved and forced to provide free labor to a country which viewed them as animals. Not so long ago in this country, it was lawful for blacks to be whipped, lynched, spat upon, attacked and otherwise tortured and/or murdered with no retribution. In the recent past, blacks in this country were still fighting for their rights to vote, hold gainful employment, attend public schools, eat at public restaurants, etc. This is the black experience in America. Although great strides have been made, it is deeply ingrained in our cellular memory as a people.

So yes, the anger and frustration will present itself when racial injustice continues to be perpetrated. Racism did not end with the election of Barack Obama. It is alive and well and is still a large, open wound in this nation. It’s a harsh reality, but nonetheless real. And we see the side effects in Baltimore, Ferguson, Chicago and every other city in America that could at any point be turned upside down by racial injustice.

With all that said, I feel the words of the late Maya Angelou are more than fitting. This is wisdom I subscribe to and wish more of us would: "Our young must be taught that racial peculiarities do exist, but beneath the skin, and into the true heart of being, fundamentally, we are more alike than we are unalike."

Brandy Donaldson, a former political reporter, is a communications specialist for a Quad-Cities company.