How is this issue still being ignored? Innocent black men and women are being killed every single day. They are out fighting for the bare minimum after so many years of injustice. When I walk outside of my house everyday, I don’t have to fear being killed. When I go on a run around my neighborhood, I can do so in peace, without being bothered. Ahmaud Arbery, 25 years old, killed by three white men while going on a run. I can drive my car around. Sandra Bland, 28 years old, found dead in police custody after being arrested at a traffic stop. I can walk to the store. Trayvon Martin, 17 years old, shot and killed while walking home from the convenience store. Elijah McClain, 23 years old, was suffocated and pumped with ketamine after being stopped while walking home. I can simply lay asleep in my house. Breonna Taylor, 26 years old, fatally shot when police broke into her home. There are so many more names that I could say. These protests are for a reason. This needs to stop, no one deserves this kind of treatment. The thing that makes me mad is the fact that i and many other people can all do basic things and not think twice, but the black community cannot. This happens everywhere, not just certain states. Something that people don’t understand about the black lives matter movement is that it’s not about black vs. white. It’s simply about being equal. Right now white people get far better treatment than black people. Black people are being killed by police officers and racists. We want all people to be treated the same in America. People think pro black movements are anti-white because pro-white movements have always been anti-black. Not all white people are racists, we aren’t fighting against them. A lot of white people, like myself, are allies. This is everyone vs. racists. I just can’t understand how some people think that this is okay and just stand by and allow it to happen. How does this not infuriate you? I feel so unbearably sad for all of the victims and their families. If something like this happened to my little sister, or any of my cousins that are people of color, I would be so upset. This is not a political argument, its human rights. There are a lot of things that you could do to support the black lives matter movement. Firstly, you could donate money. The money could go to things like bail funds for innocent people that are locked up, memorial funds, black businesses, masks and first aid for protesters, gas masks for people standing on the front lines, go fund me’s, ect. Another thing you can do is sign petitions. Petitions are a request to do something addressed to government officials. The more signatures a petition has, the more attention it gets from the government or whoever it’s addressed to. You can sign petitions to arrest the police officers that kill innocent black men and women and to release people who have been wrongfully convicted. The last thing you can do is simply spread awareness. You can do this by sharing pictures and videos on social media platforms and you can also go to peaceful protests. Sharing pictures and videos about black lives matter can inform people that don’t know about what’s going on or don’t understand it. This can bring awareness and allow more people to support the movement in an easy way. Going to protests helps because it helps get the word out to everyone. It helps the movement be publicly heard and can influence the public opinion. All of these things will greatly help the movement and show that we’re serious about making a change. These actions will eventually lead to us making history and making all races equal. This inequality has gone on for far too long. There are a lot of websites you can go to but a really helpful one that you can go to is http://www.pb-resources.com/index.html. This has links to all of the things you can do to help out and be a part of the change. We are going through a big change, which side of history do you want to be on?
Vanessa Mercado – Nazareth – DMSF
Photo by Logan Weaver