JACOB BLAKE AND BREONNA TAYLOR: MUCH MORE THAN A HASHTAG.
How terrible is the fact that it often costs innocent lives for us to realize how crumpled the definition of humanity is.
Yes, crumpled, choked by bearing the weight of cold-hearted manslaughter, crushed under the knee of ruthlessness, pleading to be able to breathe again. Sounds familiar?
The year 2020 has enraged the soul of every single being who has ever looked down upon a person belonging to a particular community. We owe a big chunk of this mass-fury to the #BlackLivesMatter protests.
George Floyd, a name who has been nothing less than a kick in the gut, forced us to come out of our homes and stand up, scream at the top of our voices, making them realise that there are a group of lives that matter too. Not just one, but we have a dozen others.
Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Breonna Taylor, Atatiana Jefferson, Jacob Blake and many others. KNOW THEIR NAMES. KNOW THAT they were just normal people like us, going about their lives, most of them shot dead, others struggling for their lives, stuck with a permanent loss, without the culprits being charged sternly.
Breonna Taylor
A 26 year old emergency room technician, Breonna Taylor was shot 8 times and delayed medical help for around 20 minutes before she died. UNARMED, HARMLESS, STRUGGLING TO LIVE, alarmed with a no-knock warrant issued to the two policemen who barged into her apartment without a warning.
‘Somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend’, said Kenneth Walker, her boyfriend and the sole eyewitness to this painful yet provoking incident, in a call made to the police helpline 911 just before the firing took place. Reports suggested that Walker shot at the guys dressed as policemen in self-defense, after they had failed to identify themselves as genuine policemen and were not there to harm them. But the fact is, THEY DID NOT. For obvious reasons, violently banging at doors, barging into people’s homes and not even trying to identify themselves as law enforcement is in no sense a ‘normal’ police behavior. Walker shot the policeman in the limb with a licensed weapon, an injury which is completely recoverable; but, had to give up the life of his beloved who had nothing to do with the scene, just because of the ruthlessness of the police. They had barged into the house unidentified in order to search for drugs, which were never found after Taylor was shot and killed.
Not only were the police in the WRONG HOUSE, but the drug dealer they were searching for had already been arrested earlier that day itself. Surprising?
For the record, the ‘no-knock’ warrant that the police had used in Breonna’s murder violates the constitutional rights to reasonable search and seizure. Policemen are obligated to identify themselves before breaking into a place legally owned by civilians. Law that bans no-knock seizure has been passed by the upper houses of the legislation, and duly signed by the President. Why wasn’t it taken into account this time?
Breonna was an award winning EMT, working at 2 hospitals as an essential worker during this pandemic. It has been nearly 4 months since this incident, yet, NO charges against the criminals who shot her dead. Her family is still struggling for justice, while the criminals continue to ‘serve’ in their respective areas of employment. People who identified her as a suspect took a long time to accept her innocence. No compensation to her family for the wrongdoing and utter negligence of the LMPD. No in-house investigations. She was a harmless citizen, she had no drugs, she had a family, who witness her being shot and dying in front of their eyes. Who is to be blamed?
Breonna Taylor. SAY HER NAME.
Jacob Blake
America does not learn. America does not reckon. George Floyd was handcuffed and killed, when a police officer knelt on his neck until he couldn’t breathe. That wasn’t enough until last week later in August, when another shooting took place. Jacob Blake was shot 7 times when he was walking away from the SUV in front of his three children, aged 3, 5 and 8. Blake has been left paralyzed from the waist down, while the white policemen have been placed on an administrative leave.
No matter how loud the world chants ‘enough is enough!’, there will be somebody who fails to perceive the message. It has been going on since a very long time, and we don’t know how much longer it will take. Blake has encountered a permanent disability, a paralysis, which is going to remind him of this incident every second of his life wishing he was dead. His children, unable to process the aftermath of this horrific incident will seldom have a chance to get rid of this trauma.
These incidents are direct descendants of hierarchy formed during the period of black slavery. No matter how big a power you are, politically, but if you fail to reckon with that, you fail as a nation.
You kill one innocent and unleash a hundred rebels.
Black people have been presumed as being dangerous, a presumption of criminality, something that needs to be dealt with immediately. Blake’s shooting is another reminder of the modern prolonged racism in America.
We need to realize that #blacklivesmatter is much more than just a hashtag.
Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, and many others.
SAY THEIR NAMES. OUT LOUD.
(all the images and artworks belong to their respective owners)
