Weeks ago, George Floyd's death gave new life to the Black Lives Matter Movement. Protestors took to the streets, riots happened, and voices were begging to be heard. Even though, this is one of the biggest movements the world has ever seen, with all 50 states participating in protests as well as other countries, but still the movement has been dismissed by many.
Now it's been 20 days and more and more news of black people in the streets being murdered. In just 20 days since, at least 120 lives have been lost due to police brutality. George Floyd cried and called out for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and many dismissed him. In 20 days following, 120 lives were taken by cops, and yet people dismiss these cases.
How many deaths does it take for the rest of the population to open their eyes and see that our system is broken? How many innocent souls need to be taken before any action occurs to prevent these deaths.
"Well, if they weren't doing anything illegal then maybe they wouldn't be dead" Breonna Taylor was asleep at home. Trayvon Martin was walking home with a packet of skittles. Tamir Rice was playing a game in a park. The list goes on.
These people will say that George Floyd was a drug addict and had been in trouble before. Did the cops know this? No. Even if so, it did not warrant his death.
Even if the person was drunk in their car, on drugs, wearing a hoodie, holding a fake gun in a park, whatever the excuse is the person does not deserve to die. I don't know how people keep using this as an excuse for black people dying at the hands of cops. I'm sure, like all of us, these people have had their hand at illegal activities, whether it's drug use or drinking under 21 or so on and so forth, none of us are completely innocent - it doesn't mean they deserve to die.
Now that major publications and news platforms have stopped reporting on the movement, many think this is over. It's not over and there's no reason we should be stopping now.
Women are disappearing, men are being hung from trees, and our society is set up to make sure black people don't succeed at all costs. Yet, people still don't see why we are so angry? My anger has made my heart pound, my vision blur, and makes me feel dizzy. I can't even imagine what it's like to live in a country that hates the color of my skin. I would be tearing buildings down too.
If the cops can kill 120 lives in 20 days, think about all the ones before that weren't reported or didn't get as much attention as George Floyd or Breonna Taylor.
If the world doesn't want us to riot, maybe the people who are suppose to protect us shouldn't show up to a gun at every instance. It's not a problem with a few bad apples, it's the whole system.
Sadly, this systematic racism doesn't stop with police, but it's the step one of changing the world. We can not go back to 'normal' we need to stop letting these things happen and go without no punishment and no remembrance later.
It's time to change the system. Defund the police and put the money towards better social services that can handle these situations without violence and that will actually give people a chance. Train cops to handle situations that doesn't result in pulling out a gun.
These are very simple things to understand, and hopefully we can get to a place where everyone sees the problems in our society and will actively work to fix them.
