Black Lives Matter: A Conversation We Must Have
A candlelit vigil for Michael Brown, calling for justice and stressing that 'Black Lives Matter' on November 26th, 2014. (Peter Marshall/Corbis)
I don’t even know where to start. Quite frankly I am ashamed that I haven’t written something about this topic earlier. It’s something I’ve been passionate about for years yet barely addressed on this blog. I think it’s time to bring my real life activism onto my platform. Even if you leave this post learning the smallest of details, that would make me happier than anything else.
I passed "heartbroken" when it was Trayvon Martin. I passed "devastated" when it was Eric Garner. I passed "disappointed" when it was Tamir Rice. There are countless victims & now it's George Floyd. How many more human beings are we going to mourn before change is enforced?
It’s another day that we mourn another innocent victim. George Floyd. An unarmed black man that was killed over the ACCUSATION of a “bad check.” An unarmed black man that screamed I CAN’T BREATHE as his last words as three officers pinned him down. An unarmed black man. A black man.
George joins the endless lists of victims that were killed by law enforcement for the most minuscule things. For him, it was a bad check. For Philando Castile it was because he was reaching for his driver’s license. For Atatiana Koquice Jefferson it was because she was simply playing video games in her home. For Akai Gurley it was because he was walking in a dark stairwell. For Stephon Clark it’s because he was carrying an iPhone. For Tamir Rice it’s because he was playing with a toy gun. For Trayvon Martin it’s because he looked “suspicious.”
I can go on and on and on and on.
Art by Carson Ellis
WHEN WILL IT STOP? is the question we need to be asking. Instead of justifying MURDER and making excuses to why civilians are getting shot, let’s talk about how minuscule things are treated in comparison to literal terrorists.
Dylann Roof—killed 9 as he shot up a church.
He walked gracefully alongside the police as he was given a bullet proof vest for protection.
He’s still alive.
Nikolas Cruz—killed 17 and injured 17 as he shot up Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
He was arrested with ease, the cops barely touched him.
He’s still alive.
Patrick Crusius—killed 23 as he shot up a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
Arrested by police in what looks like a smooth cruise on the way to the car.
And yet….
George Floyd:
Not 1 cop. Not 2 cops. But 3 cops.
Eric Garner:
The list is endless.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
The Black Lives Matter movement does not invalidate other lives. This movement is a response to the brutal killing of black women and men as opposed to the swift and graceful arrests of mass murderers.
Anyone who does not understand that saying “black lives matter” DOES NOT translate to “other lives don’t matter” is illiterate. I’m talking failed-third-grade-reading-comprehension, level of literature. If you don’t understand what this movement is or what it entails, ASK QUESTIONS. You do not discredit the movement by saying, “well all lives matter.”
Not all lives are in danger.
White lives surely aren’t with those who commit capital murder being escorted peacefully and getting a chance at a fair trial.
If one house is on fire, are you going to put out the fire in that house or are you going to say “all houses matter?” Of course all houses matter, but are all houses on fire right now? No. So you’re going to prioritize the house that is on fire.
Same thing with the BLM movement. All lives do matter, but do white people have the same chances of being killed for breathing as opposed to black people? No.
Ahmaud Arbery is another black man who was fatally shot this February for jogging around his neighborhood… JOGGING!
Discrediting the black lives matter movement by BS excuses such as “not all cops are bad” “well how about you tell black people to stop killing other black people” is a COVER for your disgusting and unwanted racist agenda. And if you spread that BS in my comment section, I promise you it will be deleted and you will be blocked from commenting.
Police brutality works hand in hand with white supremacy and a corrupt system. This is the same system that will take control of our media and try to brainwash the masses into believing things like “well Ahmaud was trespassing” “oh but Eric Garner resisted arrest by moving his arm 0.2 cm to the left” (but George had pre-existing medical issues.” There is no excuse for cold blooded murder.
This is bigger than saying “cops are bad.” It’s literally about centuries of instilled racism. A police officer in Michigan just got exposed for framing his application when he applied to become part of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
Read more here.
Yes.. in 2020.
This is about evil taking part of law enforcement. This is about racist people being held in power (I mean look at YOUR celebrity president).
If Mr. Dylann Roof can shoot up a church and kill 9 people yet be awarded with a bullet proof vest, then our black brothers and sisters should get the common decency of a fair arrest. By the way, most of these arrests would happen because a cop doesn’t like the “attitude” or they missed a “traffic signal” aka in Sandra Bland’s case.
Two photos: spot the difference.
CREDIT: JONATHAN BACHMAN/REUTERS
July 8, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
We have fully armed men approaching a teenage girl vs. the police literally protecting and escorting the revived KKK in 2017…. TWENTY SEVENTEEN.
RIOTS
“I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the lanuage of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear?” - Martin Luther King
After centuries of oppression and centuries of having the system built AGAINST you, the people are tired. “Well they should peacefully protest.” No actually trained cops should not be committing cold blooded murder first then we can talk about a peaceful protest.
Americans burn down cities over football. FOOTBALL.
They start riots when a football coach gets fired.
Penn State students start a riot after their coach got fired, November 2011. Photo: REUTERS/Pat Little
They show up to capitol hill with guns to protest a goddamn pandemic…. and how are they treated? Let’s see.
April 16, 2020
May 26, 2020
If you don’t see the problem, then you are part of the problem.
Literal morons prancing around with guns to protest a pandemic because they want their haircuts, are met with nothing, but the ability to freely protest.
God forbid you protest the brutal killings of innocent civilians though. Oh no, time to bring out the tear gas!
Everyone also had a problem with peacefully kneeling. Y’all called it “disrespectful.” Guess what? Fck your respect—stop killing black people.
Michael Zagaris / San Francisco 49ers / Getty)
They had a problem with that knee, but not the knee to the throat when George couldn’t breathe, right?
If there is no justice, there will be no peace.
You don’t get to choose when a riot is needed and you don’t get to choose how black people respond to events that they are victims of. America was built on the genocide of the Native Americans and they went on to enslave African Americans. Don’t play the “violent” card here.
I leave you with these important points that I left on Instagram.
I hope I was able to teach you something.
As for the celebrities: posting a heartbroken emoji or saying one word is not enough (you know who they are). You are helping the oppressor. Speak out about the bigger issue at hand—systematic racism, white supremacy, police brutality, and so on. This is more important than your image! Don’t hide behind an emoji to seem politically correct. That’s not enough anymore! Do better.
We must do better. We have to do better.
You can comment down below.