Black Lives Have Always Mattered!
The current climate is….. interesting to say the least. Can you imagine waking up and realizing that the world NEVER really understood that your life was worth living. That NOW people realize that police have been allowed to brutalize an entire race of people for hundreds of years and it has been CONSTANTLY ignored. George Floyd’s death ignited the recent wave of protests, but unfortunately none of this is new to Black Americans. The first video of police brutality in my lifetime that I can remember was of Rodney King in 1991. 29 years ago, let me say that again 29 years, for those that think this is “recent news” or ended with the civil rights movement. The sad thing is the world seems to have just now been awakened to how bad things are for us.
I want to ask those that like to default to the “all lives matter” speech if they have ever seen white children pulled over, all lined up with their hands up with at least 3 police cars flashing around them, as multiple police officers put guns on them as they search them for a “routine” stop? Can you imagine the fear that is implanted in their subconscious after a situation like this. Unfortunately this is a “normal” occurrence for black people. The very entity that is supposed to protect us continues to fail.
As a mother of 3 sons and a daughter this is a constant fear of mine. Especially now that my oldest is 17 and has a car of his own. Although he isn’t as scared as I am, I can’t help but reiterate that should he get pulled over he must be as respectful as possible. Definitely don’t have his music too loud and I definitely don’t allow him to have more than 2 people in his car at a time. All of this to protect him from those that are supposed to serve and protect him. When my boy’s were growing up I didn’t allow them to play with toy guns. It was a HARD NO. When we moved to Washington state I remember them playing at a white friends house with water guns and I had to explain to the child’s mom why my children were not allowed to play outside with water guns. I stand on that because as we all know too well Tamir Rice was shot in under 20 seconds by the police as he played with a toy gun. Unfortunately being a black mother I don’t know when my child will start to feel “threatening” to the rest of the world. No amount of education or fame can change that they will always be black first.
America the land of the free only applies to very few. Due to this we protest and continue to let the world know that as Nipsey said “YOU SEE US,” and our BLACK LIVES MATTER!
