I Can't Stay Silent Anymore.

I really have been thinking about how I wanted to address the situations that are happening throughout our country, and couldn't really find the correct words to formulate something that would make sense for Facebook and other social media platforms to understand. I share posts, I see the videos, but I just feel that I'm doing an injustice if I don't speak up about the situation. I feel that I'm contributing to the problem if I sit back and do nothing.

It's time that people start listening to the voices of the black community and take necessary action. What I mean by this is using your white privilege to make the changes you can prevent from happening again. The videos show just how sick and twisted our country has turned into, and just remember that the privilege is what causes the oppression that you are witnessing with your own eyes. I DON'T condone any of the violence that has happened in results of the protests, but, as history has shown, peaceful protests aren't going to cut it. The peaceful marches Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tried to initiate, ended up just going the Malcolm X way and turning to violence and riots because it's the only way that catches the attention of the governor and those in higher positions.

I am not a fan of police brutality. I don't believe that law enforcement should be hurting INNOCENT people that are simply walking the streets, quietly protesting and standing up for what they believe in. Tear gassing, shooting rubber bullets, shooting pepper spray in the eyes of the innocent is NOT how law enforcement is supposed to be. When they were sworn into office, they swore that they were going to protect us, not be against us. What happened to George Floyd should've never happened. That was a prime example of police using unnecessary force to get their point across. The officer was on George's neck for almost nine minutes. NINE. I don't feel sorry for all the repercussions the cop is facing due to this. I hope they raise the degree in his murder charge, he deserves every bad thing happening to him.

I will support Black Lives Matter until the day that I die. As someone who is of mixed race and have family of color, I will protect them and speak for those who are silenced simply because of the color of their skin. It's not fair. We're in 2020, not 1920.

Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Samuel Dubose, Sandra Bland, Walter Scott, Terrence Crutcher, Sean Reed, Michael Brown, Natasha McKenna, Kendrec McDade, Atatiana Jefferson, Kenneth Chamberlain, Botham Jean, Johnathan Ferrel...The list keeps growing. Remember their names, remember their faces. I want that list to be engraved into your brains, I want you to remember these people as their lives were taken from them too young. It's even more upsetting knowing that there are so many black men and women who are undocumented because the media doesn't give two shits about what's really going on. They put out what they want you to see, they don't want you to see everything.