Reproductive justice activist Michelle Hope spent 18 years in the classroom teaching about equity.

Here, in the first installment of BET Digital’s new series, The Protest Diaries, Hope shares her journey -- from the exhilaration she feels marching down the West Side Highway, to the fear unfolding during a tense confrontation in midtown when police officers detain citizens and make arrests.

The journey culminates with Hope speaking at the Black Lives Matter rally in Times Square on June 7.

There she gives an impassioned speech, connecting the work she does as a reproductive justice activist with this growing movement and turning the focus onto Black women.

The Protest Diaries, exploring the people and stories from social justice movements around the country, is a new series produced by BET Digital.