by Sarah Gomez
The BLM movement and getting the COVID-19 vaccine is not a political statement it is a humanitarian concern!
2020, as well as 2021, has been a chaotic year for everyone. With a pandemic that shut down practically all physical interaction and caused 3.17 million people to die world wide. The huge rise of the BLM movement also happened. Though these were huge in the media one thing has been misunderstood. The BLM movement and the lives of black people in danger in the US did not start, or get worse during the Pandemic. This is not a new occurrence or something that has shocked the black community. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DYING SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN consistently for over 600 years - really since they were forced to be here as slaves. This is not new, this is just the first time people are listening! This video below describes the positive impact that social media and smart phones have had on the BLM movement.
Someone actually asked me, "George Floyd's Killer got arrested. Isn't this over now. Can we move on?"
This upset me so much! George Floyd is not an isolated incident. It is an example of the systematic oppression our government uses to keep POC 'under control'. I am so happy, over the moon, that George Floyd's family got their justice! However this is only one case. This is just the beginning to a long road where our society needs to step back and look at the systems in place. How is it that our systems enable people who are suppose to be protecting us, who are suppose to be peacekeepers, and role models are instead are scared to do their job properly.
I describe police actions as 'being scared' because you see their responses consistent with the concept of 'fight or flight'. When you think you are being attacked your animal instincts kick in and you either attack or you run away. However, this does not give their actions justice - part of their job is responding in a responsible way. If you cannot handle the requirements of your job, such as NOT killing innocent people, than you should not be a cop.
It is not just the police force that needs to change their ways - it is the entire system. Let's look back at George Floyd's case - George Floyd was driving along and got pulled over by a cop. They claimed that he had gotten a check declined at a supermarket. So they forced him to the ground and kneeled on his neck for ___ minutes as he was begging for his life! - Do you see the catstrophic jump between action and punishment. Right there - the cops decision to murder a man for NO REASON is the only thing we need to know. Why did we have to see if he has drugs or alchohol in his system, why did we have to look at his background - non of that has to do with the fact that he is dead. If he had alcohol in his system he still should not have died. If he had drugs in his system there was still no reason to murder him. That is it, those cops decided to murder him because it was fun. That is it. There are 37 black deaths just like this that happened in 2020 alone!
Now lets compare this incident to Capitol Riot that happened by _____. They rioted the white house, destroyed property, waved around their AR-15 rifles, killed a police officer, and openly said that they were going to hunt down _____. Not a single 'protester' died or got hurt. Not a single ____.
MMIW - laws that encourage people to attack non-POC.
United states has a terrifying system of oppression! It is terrifying that people in power all over the world are consistently using their position to take advantage of the people that depend on them. Below is a our video about personal experience from a girl from Russia and her experience with police brutality.
Should this really be so relatable around the world?