To Whom It May Concern:
I need you to understand that we are not looking at all lives right now, we are focusing on the black lives being lost on a daily in 'our' country. I'm not sure if you're seeing the bigger picture here, but let me paint it for you.
Recently, headlines have been plastered with black men dying at the hands of police. This past week Alston Sterling lost his life in Baton Rouge, Louisiana outside of a convenience store where he was selling CDs. Not even 48 hours later following his death, Philando Castile would also lose his life to police violence in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.
Many people took to social media posting #BlackLivesMatter as a way to stand in solidarity with the black community. Yet, that didn't last long as some would follow up to these posts reminding us that #AllLivesMatter.
Let's pause right here and envision this before I continue:
"Imagine that you wake up late one night to the sound of your home being burglarized. Through the crack in your bedroom door, you see several figures hauling out your television, computers and nice china to their getaway car parked outside.
Thinking quickly, you dial 911 on your iPhone.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“Help!” you whisper. “My home is being robbed!”
“Stay where you are, Miss,” the other voice assures you. “We’ll look into it.”
“Thank you,” you whisper. “My address is—”
“Woah, Ma’am,” the voice on the other end says. “Why are you bringing addresses into this?”
“What?” you say. “My home is being robbed! Aren’t you going to come and stop them?”
“Well, I don’t know why you need to make this about your home, ma’am,” the operator says. “All houses matter.”
Sound familiar? Well it should because this is how everyone reminding us that all lives matter sounds. I don't see an alarming rate of other races being killed and treated less than. Black people, males in particular, are being targeted for nothing more than our skin color and all you can come up with is all lives matter?
Can we please have our moment? For so long, we have been forced to share our struggle. We've fought for freedom (something we have yet to receive), voting rights, equal opportunity, etc. In retrospect, we have continuously been fighting to SURVIVE since we arrived in this country.
If you still aren't quite seeing the image I'm painting, keep reading.
I'm going to give you a little background on the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
The movement was founded after the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, killed by George Zimmerman, who would later be acquitted of all charges. Three black women: Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors became inspired to ensure these injustices did not continue to occur. Their call to action was, "a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society. Black Lives Matter is a unique contribution that goes beyond extrajudicial killings of Black people by police and vigilantes."
The Black Lives Matter Movement was never meant to exclude other races and issues, but simply focus on the validity of black lives. We understand that other lives are being taken to, we get it wholeheartedly. But please understand that it is our time and if you have a problem with that then you are apart of the problem as well.
You should see where African-Americans are coming from and why we are so angry at everything occurring in this country that we call home. We are being treated less than and it is evident as we are being targeted by those who were put in our communities to 'protect and serve.' I'm not sure if you understand what it feels like to fear for the safety of your fathers, brothers, uncles, aunts, and cousins on a daily basis. We are tired, angry and saddened as we look at our people dying senselessly. Don't you get it?
It isn't about all lives right now. It is about the black ones and we will continue to preach this until we see change. We walk outside with an unwavering target on our back, but we wear it with an unwavering strength as a people.
So for the umpteenth time, I don't want to hear #AllLivesMatter right now. We will continue to fight until justice is righteously served. As Angela Davis once famously stated, "We are never assured of justice without a fight." African-Americans and others are standing up against these inhumane actions. This fight will continue until the value of black lives are recognized by everyone. Please understand that we are human too.
Sincerely,
A tired #BLACKLIVESMATTER supporter
P.S. I know your birthday is still a couple of days away, but happy birthday Philando.
