Let's have a moment of silence for the following fallen victims:
Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Freddie Gray, Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, and the several other victims, some of whom are more known than others.
Know justice, know peace. No justice, no peace. Yes, black lives matter.
First, let me clear the air. When we say that, it is not an anti-white campaign. It is not saying that "all lives do not matter." Trust me, I do truly believe #AllLivesMatter, but #BlackLivesMatter is specifically for the black lives. It does not mean that white lives, Hispanic lives, Chinese lives, Korean lives, etc. do not matter. For example, you do not go to breast cancer events and yell all cancer patients matter, which we all know they do, because you know that breast cancer events are specifically for awareness of a specific cause. Let's paint a picture. Many people are at a table eating food, but Little Jimmy has not received food. It has been hours later without food, so Little Jimmy chants "Little Jimmy deserves food." The other guest chants, "No, Jimmy. All people need food." Yet, Little Jimmy is still the only one to not receive any food.
America has a history of "short-changing" African Americans. African Americans were enslaved for decades, being beaten, raped, and murdered in slavery. Their chances of becoming literate were hindered. Then finally, slavery was abolished and ruled unconstitutional. You would have thought that things would get better, well, until the infamous Jim Crow laws were established. Segregation and the KKK, which placed, even more, restrictions on African Americans, dominated American soil. The words "white supremacy" became a national anthem while blacks continued to be targeted for lynching, arson, and other attacks. Emmett Till became one of many unjustified deaths The efforts of the Civil Rights Movement were faced with strong opposition. Now, police brutality has become a more prominent issue.
As you can see, African Americans have been victims of oppression for years. We just want to be treated fairly since we are citizens of this country, too. Black lives should matter to everyone in all aspects of life. We should not have feelings of not get a particular job because of our skin color. We should not be judged or perceived a particular way because of our skin color. It is no secret that blacks are getting arrested and convicted for crimes more than whites. Have you ever noticed how the bad guys in most movies are dark skinned and has cornrows or dreads? Have you ever noticed how most low-income neighborhoods and low-performing schools are filled with blacks and other minorities? Black lives should matter to everyone in all aspects of life.
The people who have the power to make things better do nothing. It is an outcry that black lives need to matter more, and it needs to matter more than three-fifths. To me, #BLM is today's form of the Civil Rights Movement. We see that blacks lives, just like in the past, are being treated unfairly, so we want a change. Justice is not being rightfully and fairly served when young black males are being killed, and evidence vividly shows that the now-dead black young males were innocent victims. We want a change. Many poor neighborhoods are filled with blacks, so we want a change. We notice racism towards blacks has increased lately, so we want a change. The change is for a better future and for more young blacks to have the ability, without fear and racist opposition, to grow up and be successful adults. #BlackLivesMatter is one of our ways to fight for a better change. Blacks can't make this change all on our own. Building up the African American communities should be a unified effort by all of America. However, the choice is ours. Will there be a change?
