Question Of The Week
What does Black Lives Matter mean to you?
I thought that most Black people were on the same page when it came to Black Lives Matter. I thought. I thought wrong. It shocks me to hear Black people say that this is a racist statement. I thought on it for a few days trying to figure out where my disconnect is. I can be wrong (it is rare, lol). I have to tell you. I don’t see how saying Black Lives Matter is racist. Having to tell someone this in the first place is the problem.
Black Lives Matter, for me, means that we still have so far to go as humans. I have seen animals treated and protected better than Black people. A man’s dog was shot by police, and he received a settlement for the loss of his dog’s life. I don’t recall anyone asking the dog owner if the dog had killed another animal or a person for that matter. Did the dog break the law by pooping where it shouldn’t? Was the dog up to date on his/her vaccinations? Was the dog on any medication? No questions asked. The cop who shot the dog filled out a full report with the details as he saw them.
Take a look at the cases where a Black person is murdered, Breonna Taylor; there still has not been an arrest n her case. The initial story that I read stated that there was a warrant for someone who supposedly lived at that address and that there were suspicions of drugs being sold from address. LIES! Mike Brown, there is no police report by the officer on his account of what happened, and the police criminalized him, and they were dead wrong on everything that they said. Trayvon Martin, It makes me angry to think that this young man is dead and his killer is free. Trayvon Martin was hunted and killed. End of story. George Floyd, seeing a man on the ground begging, pleading, crying for his life, makes me sick to my stomach. What happened to George Floyd should never, ever happen again, and the people responsible should spend the rest of their life in jail.
We have to tell whoever will listen that Black Lives Matter until they do, and victims are no longer criminalized. It does not matter what George Floyd did in his past. What happened that day should not have cost him his life. Simple as that. I don’t care what drug he supposedly had in his system; the man was not resisting or fighting, his hands were cuffed, and there was no need for him to die.
I have had counterfeit money twice in my life. I don’t know how I received it or when. I don’t carry a money marker to check. I tried to use the bills, and they were not accepted. I was asked for another form of payment. I provided it and went on my way. I wasn’t trying to steal or cheat anyone. Should I die because somehow I received counterfeit money? I think not.
I would have died that day with George Floyd, or maybe I would have died, and he would have lived, I don’t know. What I do know is after the third time of me yelling for them to get off of his neck, I would have likely pushed that cop and suffered the consequences.
I would do the same for a cop if someone were suffocating him/her. I would do the same for White, LatinX, Asian, LBGTQ, Arab, Indian, Jew, Muslim, Russian, HUMAN.
Black Lives Matter, and until that is understood, we have to keep saying it. We have to keep marching, protesting, demanding (no more asking) change. If the person in the highest office won’t acknowledge the issues that America has, that is his problem. We can no longer be blinded to them, live in fear and squander because of them, or die for them.
Black Lives Matter and until EVERY police officer can say and accept that the same as any other oath that they take, they should not be able to serve because they are not able to protect what does not matter to them.
The Writer-My Black Life Matters
