#CarefreeBlackKids2k16 brings a dose of joy to an otherwise horrific week

It has been a harrowing few days.

On Tuesday night, footage of Alton Sterling being shot to death by police officers emerged from Baton Rouge, La. On Wednesday night, the world saw footage of another black man, Philando Castile, bleeding to death after a police officer shot him four times at a traffic stop.

Both incidents have been dire reminders of the violence that black people face every day from authority figures they should be able to trust. Sterling and Castile were the 122nd and 123rd black people to be killed by police officers this year alone, according to the database maintained by The Washington Post.

This constant refrain of death can be very emotionally draining, as many people have been expressing on Twitter.

In response, Heben Nigatu—co-host of Buzzfeed’s “Another Round” podcast and a staffer at the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert”—started a hashtag, #CarefreeBlackKids2k16, to provide a small dose of respite for people trying to process these tragedies. It’s joyful and cathartic and reminds us why we need to make sure these kids grow up in a world that cares for their lives more than it did for the lives of their elders.

https://twitter.com/juliaocw/status/751098960949936128

“I hope this thread brought some joy into your day. I really needed this,” Nigatu wrote on Twitter. Thank you, Heben. We really needed this today too.