Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Alston Sterling, Philando Castile. Did those names evoke any type of emotion, any type of feeling? These are not just names anymore, not just a few people caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The color of their skin has dictated their chance to live, and quite frankly, this sounds all too familiar. Racism has been alive and well, and it is disheartening to say that it took countless deaths to finally realize it.
Yes, blue lives do matter, and yes, all lives do matter, but right now, we want to direct the focus to black lives matter. It inherent that some police officers have become so comfortable with allowing their preconceived judgements affect how they treat people of color. Yes, these officers must be prepared for the worst, being that they put their lives on the line. But in these cases, there is a fine line between doing one's job and committing murder. But it so happens that, no matter how severe those actions can be, they are always justified by a broken justice system.
As Americans, we are promised an opportunity of freedom and happiness. But once that opportunity is stripped away from you, you will have nothing. Once the justice system turns its back on you, you are alone. Without a voice, without a means to survive.
With that being said, we need to reevaluate our role as Americans. We are praised for our proactivity, our collectiveness and social reform over the course of a century. Yet half of the country is silent. Either because they are afraid to speak out or choose not to speak out. The latter is because of the coined phrase, white privilege. People of white privilege choose not to speak out on systematic oppression because it is not enough to draw attention to. In other words, "it's not my problem."
However, the other half of the country has chosen not to remain silent. For one, people have been actively posting and tweeting demanding change on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Others have decided to take the more traditional measure, marching down the streets with powerful signs for spectators to read. It is both an action that will spark awareness, and awareness is the first step to change. Because I don't want to read about another innocent black death on the front cover of the newspaper.
I stumbled upon clamor and chants around a group of people in manhattan a few days back. My friend and I, stepping closer to the crowd saw signs that revolved around the black lives matter movement. I was mesmerized by it all. I looked around, there were Asians, whites, blacks, and Hispanics marching besides each other chanting for justice and peace. It's quite disheartening to say that today in 2016, the justice system is still broken, with many flaws that a few Americans choose not to accept.
It was a large crowd, men and women, black, white Asian, Muslim, marching together raising their signs up and screaming, the people united, can never be defeated. I joined the movement and I just watched for the first few moments. Watched the people silently crying in the corner, Watched the tourists raise their hand up showing their support and watched how in white America, there are still some people who are willing to march for a revolution, for change in heavy downpour. Especially with the cops trying to barricade and shut down the peaceful These deaths are the prime examples of the systematic injustice in America. Racism is still apparent, people are still ignorant and Americans wonder, where do we go from here?
