Tamir Rice. Sandra Bland. Eric Garner. Michael Brown. Rekia Boyd. Freddie Gray. Walter Scott. And now, Delrawn Small, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile. No, these aren’t all of the African American lives that were taken at the hands of police officers. In fact, if I were to name them all this article would probably turn into a book…it’s actually already a book.

It breaks my heart to know that my black brothers and sisters and my own children will have to grow up in a society that hates them. I look at my younger male cousins who still enjoy playing Cops-And-Robbers, and I instantly become uneasy because their image of police officers hasn't been tainted yet, and they're completely unaware of the prejudice that awaits in their futures because of their race and sex. They don’t know that they could easily be killed for something as simple as pretending that their own hand is a gun. I think of how the youngest one loves to be the good cop who lets you go with only a warning and a smile even though you just pretended to drive 180mph down the highway, and I become even sadder that they themselves probably won’t ever have that type of interaction, even if they did absolutely nothing wrong. I hate the fact that this matter is not taken seriously until someone has lost their life. It sucks, and I really hope that you, the reader, can feel the emotion that continues to be released from my very fingers as I type this piece.

What is it about us? Are we not good enough, or are we too good? No matter the crime, or lack thereof, the police deny us our day in court and automatically deem our actions punishable by death. It seems that every silver bullet ever manufactured, was specifically designed to penetrate black bodies. One shot, two shots, six. The amount doesn't matter. The type of gun doesn't matter. Probable cause doesn’t even matter! Because at the end of the day, he who has killed one of my black brothers or one of my black sisters gets to go home and enjoy a vacation — paid administrative leave!

Just last week, actor Jessie Williams presented a profound speech at the BET Awards while accepting his Humanitarian Award. Just last week, a theater full of African Americans stood to their feet and felt empowered as Jessie publicly spoke the words that we have all been speaking for so long. The BET Awards was aired simultaneously on BET, Nickelodeon, VH1, MTV, MTV2, Centric, Spike, Comedy Central, and Logo. So, everyone heard what he had to say! The racist white community and the institution in which they are protected saw the intent in Jessie’s eyes and felt that they had to take action to return the coloreds to the back of the bus where they belong. They sensed the determination and the drive within the black community, and had to disorient it – knock us off of our game; confuse us.

The day before Alton’s death, or should I say execution, everyone celebrated Independence Day. Now, I must be honest. I’m not one to look at everything in black and white, or African American and Caucasian. Although I do wholeheartedly believe that we are constantly oppressed and still discriminated against, I don’t reach for things to fall victim to. On the 4^th of July, I saw several posts saying that our people were never free and I saw even more posts from black individuals who said that they’d never celebrate Independence Day. I casually scrolled past these posts, kind of irritated and thinking to myself, It’s not that serious.

It is that serious! Apparently, it’s still a crime to be black in America. Whenever a black person is gunned down by an officer, who almost always just happens to be white, everyone asks, “Well what did the black guy do?” Take young Tamir Rice, for example. He was only twelve years old, playing with a toy gun, in an open carry state. A police officer came and shot him in less than two seconds and everyone’s response was, “Well what did he do?” Number one, it shouldn’t matter what the black boy did, or what the white boy did, or what whoever else did! The officer’s primary focus, first and foremost, should be to protect. But they seem to have confused protection with persecution. Now, what if the roles were reversed and Tamir was actually Tanner being approached by Officer Williams. If lil’ Tanner was shot and killed, no one would’ve asked what he did to provoke the officer. They would’ve automatically assumed that Officer Williams was to blame. Why? Because he’s black! Officer Williams would’ve gotten life without parole, and lil’ Tanner’s family would’ve gotten privacy as they mourned the loss of their son in addition to hella’ reparations from the government to comfort them in their time of sorrow.

Jessie Williams made a great point when he said that white people are somehow diffused and disarmed and still allowed to keep their lives, while our black men and women are all viewed as targets and seem to deserve nothing more than a bullet to the head. People always say that if black people would just comply with the orders of the officer, there would be no reason for them to have to kill us. That’s bullsh*t! These days, even complying while black is a crime. On July 6th, the day after Alton Sterling was murdered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Philando Castile was murdered in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Why? For complying!Castile informed the officer that he had a gun and that he was licensed to carry. The officer instructed Castile to take out his driver’s license and gun permit, and while attempting to follow the officer’s instructions, he was shot five times. The guy still had his seatbelt on! His girlfriend was on the passenger side and his young daughter was in the back seat! Nothing about this story says that Castile was “resisting arrest” or that he caused the officer to “fear for his life.” He was only doing what he was told to do, and he still died. There is no reason why being pulled over for a busted taillight should ever result in the death of the driver.

Not only do the police kill our people, but the media finds the absolute worst images to post about the deceased to make the rest of America believe that they deserved to die. The word “thug” has become one that I absolutely cannot stand because it seems to have become synonymous with the infamous “n*gger.” Think about it! A white guy kills dozens, and the first photo that is released into the media is one of him smiling with his family. A black guy is shot by a police officer and he’s a “thug” and the first photo that is released into the media is either an old mugshot or one of him saggin’ his pants with a grill in his mouth. Broadcasters talk about how the white guy had a rough childhood and how his parents divorced when he was seven years old, but when it comes to the black guy, they tell you exactly how many times he had been convicted, how many times he was suspended from school, and how many baby mamas he had. How will we ever gain justice in a system that was structured and designed to defeat us? Yeah, they said that we became U.S. citizens in 1868 when the fourteenth amendment was adopted, but here we are, nearly 150 years later, and racism is now institutionalized and purposely going unnoticed by the masses.

If you’re a black person who tries to justify the police brutality by saying that it won’t stop until black-on-black crime does, then you are a part of the problem. If Tyrone shoots Daequan, Tyrone gets life without question! But, if Officer Duncan shoots Daequan — hell, if George Zimmerman shoots Daequan or if Dylan Roof shoots Daequan — their hardest decision afterward is whether they want their cold cut sandwich on wheat or rye. If you’re a black person who counters my #BlackLivesMatter exclamation with #AllLivesMatter, then you are a part of the problem. It’s obvious that all lives matter! The hierarchy of who matters is based on race. White people are obviously at the top and black people just might be at the very bottom! If any of this applies to you, understand that you’re doing exactly what those who believe that they are superior to us want you to do. They want us to be divided because they’re well aware of just how powerful we will be if we were to unite. However, are you really aware? Right now, what I need for all of you brainwashed black people to do is wake up and see that this country doesn’t really love you. I’ve been seeing a photo floating around of a young, black man who openly supports Donald Trump. Who are his parents and what have they taught him? If you all haven’t realized that this presidential election is just the beginning of a lawfully and racially divided country, then you’re sick.

The funniest thing about it all, though, is that society’s attention will be on something else by next week. Somebody else’s child will jump into a gorilla exhibit, someone is going to suddenly catch Malaria, a plane is going to go missing. The government is playing us, and we don’t realize it. We need to!

I’ll never trust the police. I’ll never trust this country as a whole, the government, Trump supporters, and whoever else looks at me as if I’m a disgrace simply because my melanin is too much for them to handle. Wendy Williams, Stacey Dash, and Raven Symone? Disowned. I am unapologetically black and if one of those silver bullets has my name on it, so be it. My only hope is that if I’m one of the next individuals to be gunned down, if my name is the next one in a hashtag, and my image is the next to be defamed by every news and social media outlet in existence, you’ll remember this article; and you’ll remember that I told you so. #JusticeForAlton #JusticeForPhilando #JusticeForDelrawn #BlackLivesMatter #FistsUp

Never thought that we'd actually use this picture, but if we continue to stand together in unity, it'll be the last one we take.

- Notasulga High School, C/O '15