May 25th, 2020. A seemingly normal day, or what seemed like one. George Floyd was like any regular man: hardworking, kind, and caring. He had a girlfriend and a daughter; Gianna is never going to see her father again all because a couple of white men decided to look at his melanin instead of character. George wasn’t a criminal, he was a father, a son, a boyfriend. Say his name. Scream it. Make it be heard, because he deserves nothing but justice for what happened to him.
March 13th, 2020. Breonna got home after a long day at work as an ER technician. She got into bed like she did every night, hoping to catch some rest before she had to get up in the morning again. But she never woke up. As a “warning shot”, these officers forced their way into her apartment and shot her six times, just for her to be the wrong person they were looking for. 12 hours later, her boyfriend lost the love of his life. How fucked up does this country have to be for Breonna to not get to wake up the next day because of a mistake made by three white men? Say her name. Breonna Taylor. Say her name and make it be heard.
April 11th, 2021. Daunte Wright got pulled over for a traffic violation. The rest of us would be let off with a ticket, but Daunte was murdered in broad daylight. Officer Potter “mistook” a taser for a gun and shot him. Since when does making a wrong turn warrant a death sentence? Daunte was a father too, he left behind a kid. A kid who will never get to see him again because of a “mistake”. Say his name and let it be heard. Say Daunte Wright until your throat hurts so much, you can’t speak.
What does it take for a person to be understood? I’m not black, I cannot speak for the black community, but I do grieve with them. I grieve over the loss of these beautiful souls. I will never understand what the black community is going through, but I can advocate for them. I’m not writing this piece for you all to read it and ignore it, I’m writing it so you can learn something. I can’t go out there and end police brutality single-handedly, but I can educate all of you. If you ignore this piece just like you ignored the news and all the information constantly reposted about Black Lives Matter, shame on you. Shame on you for being selfish and for not standing with the black community as they grieve the loss of their fellow friends and family. Shame on you for not giving a damn about these innocent lives lost.
Say their names. Say all of their names. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Stephon Clark. Say their names until something changes. Call your local representatives, they’re there for a reason. Make a difference guys, because if it was your community grieving like this, you wouldn’t give it a second thought. Place that same empathy towards the black community and stand with them so the lives we lost are given justice. Stand with them so we can make sure nothing like this happens again. Black lives do matter, they have always mattered, and they always will matter.
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