Black Lives Matter is a movement that has been around for many years, although recently it has become more prominent. It protests the oppression of the black community and fights against police brutality, systemic racism, and the 'self proclaimed' "I-don't-see-color" movement. Many people have been showing support of the BLM movement by posting about it on social media. But there are other things that you can do that also help: 1. Go to peaceful protests.
2. Support black owned business.
3. Sign petitions.
4. Write or email politicians and newspapers.
5. Make calls to representatives.
In the last few months the Black Lives Matter movement has gained strength in response to the video taped killing of George Floyd. Millions of people watched the video of him on the ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds with Derek Chauvin’s foot on his neck. George Floyd screamed “I can’t breathe” “Momma, I can’t breathe,” Derek wouldn’t remove his foot. George Floyd died there, while officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas K. Lane just watched and let him die. Although arrested, they are all currently out on bail. In the
last several months Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Daniel Prude and Jacob Blake among many others have been killed or injured by the police. In Breonna Taylor's case, her neighbor's wall got more justice than she did. BLM activists argue that violence against black people happens everyday in this country, in part because of a lack of police training. For example, barbers are required to have hundreds of more hours of training than police officers. Often, when cops do cross the line and engage in police brutality, there are no repercussions. For example, Derek Chauvin had 17 complaints about abuse of power and hurting people in the past, none of those complaints were looked at or taken seriously. Imagine if someone had looked at these complaints and punished him for his actions, maybe then, George Floyd would still be alive. We have a messed up system that needs to be fixed. The BLM movement and political action has begun to create change, but there’s still so much more that we need to do. So do what you can, support the BLM movement, protest, spread awareness and sign petitions. We’re all in this together.
By: Camilia and Isabel
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