Almost two years ago, a new social movement suddenly exploded with the death of Michael Brown Jr., a young Black man living in Ferguson, one of St. Louis’ surrounding towns. The youth was purchasing cigarettes legally as an adult, and like most eighteen-year-olds, looked forward to starting at the local university. This all changed when a Ferguson officer by the name of Darren Wilson approached Brown and attempted to arrest him for theft. Brown protested against the unlawful arrest, entirely unarmed. Unfortunately, the officer murdered him in the belief that Brown could endanger his life. Upon the news of Michael Brown’s tragic death, the media took to using photographs in the attempt to portray him as an ignorant thug. Testimonies from other individuals, particularly his mother, Lesley McSpadden. She recalls that her son was a “happy, chunky child that rarely got into trouble.” On the other hand, you may recall that whenever shown on the media via photographs, Officer Wilson was always shown in uniform. From there, the American public came to learn that Wilson was not penalized for his actions in any way. This ignited rage and momentum in many individuals, leading the succeeding “riots” in Ferguson.
Why am I telling you such old news? We need to look back and understand that the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement came from an innocent young man’s death. We need to examine the real protesters. While officers resorted to tear gas and rubber bullets, these folks were trying to help others, except so much became misconstrued. The photo of Edward Crawford throwing a gas canister stands as one prominent example. Crawford stated that he threw the can away not to harm the police, but to get it away from bystanders and protesters. All of the negative media on this event, especially the looting, warped our view of Black Americans horribly. Never forget that these looters never had anything to do with the protest of Brown’s death. The photos in the following article clearly show that protesters wanted peace, nothing more, nothing less.
More recently, the United States has had to deal with even more tragedy. Last week, we lost Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two Black men who intended to do no harm and did their best to cooperate with police in Louisiana and Minnesota. Then, we lost five members of the Dallas Police Department who were in the area of the protest, just doing their job to keep the area safe. Note how I didn’t vilify or show bias towards either. As Jon Stewart said recently, the idea of supporting a social movement dedicated to police reform and supporting the police force itself doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. You can rely on police to keep you safe but also question how they’re working to prevent murders such as this. Look at Campaign Zero, for instance. The program spearheaded by leaders of the movement, such as Baltimore educator Deray McKesson, examines legislative aspects that allow for police brutality to happen. Campaign Zero also examines solutions to this issue through non-violent actions, particularly through communication with law enforcement and the legislature. Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean that anyone has to act violently towards the police. It’s a protester movement, not a war.
The next time you look at a newspaper, Facebook or any other media outlet, keep your mind open. Black Lives Matter isn’t about victimizing people of color, and it most definitely does not aim to start a war against police. All we’re trying to do is bring attention to an abuse of power made by some police. Not all police aim to hurt citizens, but when a country becomes desensitized to death on a daily basis, something in our judicial system has to change. If you find yourself struggling to dehumanize an innocent citizen or praise an officer of the peace for committing violence, you’ve become a part of the national problem. However, you should not put yourself down. Try to look into the facts surrounding a shooting. Read up on policies regarding police action in your municipality. Most of all, don’t let today’s sensationalized media divide our country’s views even further. We must all stand united, or we will all fall.
