This is not the first time an unarmed black man has been killed by police, and this is not the first time there has been uproar. However - and call me naive - something about this feels different. America has been angry for a while now, but it feels as if her anger has bubbled up from underneath us and has now risen to the surface. Her fury is palpable, it is visible.

The first day I walked into those hallowed halls, I was immediately hit with huge culture shock. While all of my old friends were from the city, the students at my new school hailed from every suburb in Illinois. The teachers were stern and old-fashioned. The rules were strict. Although my old school didn’t even have a dress code, in Catholic school, it was collared shirts and khakis every day. We went to Mass, prayed in every class, and studied religion regularly. I hadn’t gone to church in years, and now I was learning about the Book of Job and the Gospels every day.