Why Black Lives Matter
I’m hopeful George Floyd’s heart-breaking murder becomes the light finally seen through the darkest eyes in the world.
Racism can be witnessed within charismatic, attractive and wealthy individuals, too. There are no socio-economic, size, shape or geographical boundaries. My historical research on black Americans was further fueled when I learned some people are purporting their town is being boarded up as a direct result of Black Lives Matter. In actuality, multi-cultural races around the world are fed up with racism and bigotry.
For a few days, unaware citizens may feel inconvenienced having to prepare their specialty coffee at home. Have these people considered George Floyd’s feelings while he was nonchalantly murdered? How is Mr. Floyd’s family feeling after watching the viral video of their loved one pleading during his final breaths? How valuable is one’s espresso when black lives in America have been inconvenienced for centuries? When did oppression of the black people begin within our land of the free?
Abusing black people began with the slavery of Africans when forced to America in 1619. The White Lion ship brought 20 Africans to the then-British colony of Jamestown, Virginia. The crew seized the Africans from the Portuguese slave ship São João Bautista. By the mid-1800s, America’s great debate over slavery tore our nation apart in the bloody Civil War, which continues to this day. Though our nation’s four million enslaved people were freed, black people are far from free.
At age five, I met and befriended Crystal, the most beautiful black girl. We played in the nursery school’s sandbox, ate Elmer’s Glue and painted each other’s portraits on an easel. Even though it was 1965 when inter-racial anything was forbidden, Crystal and I walked hand in hand. We didn’t know why rocks were thrown at our tiny heads, cherry bombs deliberately set in our path or a pistol held to our faces. We did, however, know how amazing my white fingers interlaced with her brown ones appeared. I marveled at her large brown eyes while she remarked on my blue.
When did Americans put their coffee cups down and take notice of the police brutalities toward black people? Was it during Martin Luther King’s Alabama march? Rodney King’s vicious beating? Oscar Grant’s shooting death? Eric Garner’s chokehold strangulation? The shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice while playing with a pellet gun? After George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012, a movement began.
By July 13, 2013, the black community within the United States had enough. Black Lives Matter, an American, now-international human rights movement formed. This social organization originated in the African-American community of the United States, which campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people.
Black power began on American soil in 1619. However, 400 years later black people are still nothing more than an inconvenience to those color blind, while the fact we share our brother’s and sister’s ancestral blood is undeniable.
Our time on earth is limited, our expiration date unknown. During one’s precious and few moments, discover the psychological stability within to speak kindly of others or be quiet. Refrain from being cruel to those deceased. Their remaining loved ones are already in agony. Everybody has a scary skeleton sheltered within their glass home. We’re human to secretly hope no one is vicious enough to cast stones at the window of our soul.
Is a lack of empathy and sympathy hardwired into one’s DNA? Are racists direct descendants of the crew aboard The White Lion ship? Or is the ill-treatment of others an unfortunately learned trait? For the sake of every red-blooded American, we must shine the light on why black lives matter.
