I am in no way qualified to comment on race, racism or anything to do with what’s happening in the US but the one thing that does occurs to me is this: everyone who is alive on this planet right now is the offspring of survivors.

Our parents (and their parents, and so on) survived everything from wars and immigration (forced or otherwise), to disease, slavery and invasion.

Many terrible things happened in the past. I don’t know a single person who hasn’t got a parent, grandparent or great grandparent who wasn’t either a victim or a perpetrator of violence (or often, both).

I wish we could stand in peaceful solidarity to recognise this.

We are the result of generations of trauma and suffering, as well as hope and resilience.

The generational trauma of our forebears is like a weapon that is passed down from father to son, mother to daughter.

And the time has come to lay it down for good. It’s not ours and we don’t want it.

There is no such thing as colour blindness but there is empathy and understanding.

You tell me about your parents’ and grandparents’ experiences, and I’ll tell you about mine. Let’s share our stories about how they survived, and what we can learn from their mistakes so we don’t repeat them.