Am I My Brother's Keeper? The World Unites In Protest
As I crouched with my knee against the concrete in protest, I wondered about the thoughts that went through the head of George Floyd as his face was pressed against the streets of Minneapolis. I wondered what thoughts were going through the mind of Ahmaud Arbery as he ran for his life. I wonder what Breonna Taylor was dreaming about as she spent her unforeseen last night in her own home. I wondered, if in a world of chaos and racism, I would be next.
I feel broken. I sit glued to my phone in anguish, and my heart fills with contempt as I see my people lay dead on the concrete, souls crushed by a knee that is weighed with hundreds of years of racism and oppression. Even as the world pours into the streets to fight for people who look like me, it comes 200 years too late. George Floyd’s murder was the catalyst of a reaction—a videotaped murder was broadcast to the nation. It was a crime so horrific that it peeled back the scales that covered the eyes of ignorance, and a cry for justice rang out across the world. But why was it George? Why wasn’t it Amadou Diallo, or Emmit Till, The Scottsboro Boys, or any of the thousands of other lives that now sit in graveyards, never knowing if their deaths will see justice? Black voices have cried for help for centuries—where was this energy all of that time? Why is George Floyd dead? Why did no one listen when we kneeled, or locked arms, or marched? Why did this country work so hard to actively further racism? Why do the leaders of fights for change like Malcolm and Martin end up in body bags instead of in class discussions?
These are questions that no answer can satisfy, but as I, a black man, marched through the streets of New York—flanked by people of all ages, races, genders, sexualities, classes, abilities, and occupations—I felt a power that caused tears to wet my hidden face. Change is coming. I am not alone in my pain. I have the whole world on my side, and the cries for equality are being heard.
This is the Black Lives Matter movement. No amount of pepper spray, curfews, brutality, and combat can shut down the cry for justice. There will be no peace until there is rectitude, and change is brewing. We will break the chains that oppress us until every weed of hatred and racism is plucked from the root. I am my brother’s keeper. Where leaders have failed, the people will rise to protect the lives of the minority. We will change the world with our voices, and history will not be kind to those who ignore us.
Those who stand against us
In the early 1700s, southern state’s police forces were centered around the preservation of the slavery system. Police officers were tasked with chasing down runaways and preventing slave revolts. During Reconstruction, police officers worked to enforce segregation and the disenfranchisement of freed slaves. A group born in racism has been given the power to kill people. These people carry the unchecked power of God on their waist belts. Years of murder and corruption have taken the lives of my brothers and sisters, and yet I am told to look away and sit in silence to protect the reputation of a group that holds no regard for my life, my goals, my dreams, my family, the beauty that I hold in my black skin. I will not sit here and try to search for the few good men in an organization that sees me as a threat to be eliminated.
A journalist bleeds after being struck by a rubber bullet in Minneapolis. Source: Chandan Khanna via Getty Images
I see the need for police, and I fully understand that we can’t abolish a justice force that, in many cases, works to keep the peace. But as I watch videos of police vans running over protesters, the purposeful blinding of media personnel via shots to the face, the tear-gassing of the innocent—a move that is illegal, even in warfare—I am forced to realize that if this behavior is allowed, we have to address the group as a whole. Throughout the history of this country, the people have decided that systems in place are unfair and abusive, so they have overthrown them and changed them, and the country is better for it. It is no surprise to me that the entire country is now in riots and protests over a malicious group of people that hold an immense amount of power paired with very little training. How is it that it takes years to become a lawyer, but only months to become a cop? Besides body cameras, what has been implemented to check the power of the police force? I saw up close and personal that the NYPD is covering their badge numbers as they attack protestors. With no accountability, how can justice ever be served? Who can be called to enact justice, when the criminals are the ones holding the badge?
Not everyone should be allowed to be a cop. Any police officer should have years of training before they are ever even allowed to touch a gun. It takes a mere ten months to become a police officer. Cops should have intense mental checks, and there should be insane levels of racial bias training. We are giving these individuals the power to kill people, and it is not a power that should be taken lightly. To become a cop, you need to have the most intense level of training, an intense and deep knowledge of the law, and intense background checks of your entire family. The methods used by cops should be entirely rethought out—especially when it comes to handling things like protesting, which is a constitutional right.
Why are cops showing up to these protests with insane weapons and riot gear, when the crowd is unarmed? The immediate power imbalance heightens tensions, and cops are the main ones escalating these situations and then blaming it all on protesters. We need to dismantle this “proud boy” mentality. We have made police officers homogenous with being proud to be an American, and it blinds us from seeing their faults. No matter how much we see it, death is a finality. When a cop kills someone, it’s over. 1 in 1,000 black men will die by the hands of the police.
To properly solve police brutality, we have to replant the roots of rotten trees within law enforcement. We must complete an independent assessment of every precinct, and dispose of any officer with misconduct complaints. Derek Chauvin had 17 misconduct complaints against him. If we had held him accountable for his actions when he first started to abuse his power, George Floyd would still be here. If we kept that energy nationwide, the officers who killed Tamir Rice and Antwon Rose would have also been weeded out. The staunch firing of officers who fall out of line sends a clear message about accountability. This is not about livelihoods or feelings, these are matters of life and death, and they should be treated with that level of severity.
We have to end the ability for officers to be “above the law.” Officers are people too, and they do not deserve a pass for crimes that they commit. The silence that protects the sins of officers is the reason that I don’t take any comfort in the police force. I, like many people who look like me, fear the men behind the badge, not out of respect, but out of survival.
The Protests
All fifty states, over 400 cities, and over 30 countries have poured into the streets in both peaceful protests and riots over the murder of black citizens by the police force. There is so much beauty to be found in these movements. Watching a young girl use her privilege to protect a black man who knelt in front of the White House gives me hope. Seeing celebrities like Iliza Shlesinger and John Boyega, people who I look up to, step out of their level of comfort to join the fight for people like me brought pride into my heart. Seeing people lock arms to defend the wounded from more harm lights a fire in my chest that inspires me to not lose faith. Seeing people in countries that I have never walked in like Syria and Germany rise up alongside the American people to fight for my rights shows me how far we have come.
Protesting is a constitutional right. Racism is above politics. The protection of black lives is bigger than religious differences. The voices of those who would oppose what we are fighting for are drowned out by the love that I have witnessed over the past few weeks.
As I stepped out for the first time to join a protest, my feelings of fear and uncertainty were replaced by power and unity. I looked around and saw peace, I saw harmony, and I saw strength. Why is that not the primary focus of news coverage? Why are the voices of the peaceful being drowned out by the few who take advantage of the situation to commit crimes on their own accord?
Photo Source: The Economist
I have been asked dozens of times about my thoughts on the riots. Am I supposed to say that I feel more sympathy for a broken window over the murder of my people? Because in truth, I don’t. The protestors are not the looters, and if you focus on the broken glass, you miss the whole picture. Focus on the black lives lost, not on the corporate property. Focus on the real message, not the actions of a few. It is weird to me that we’ve chosen to only focus on the people looting, and that the media and many leaders have decided to let those few people represent the entire movement. However in the same breath, they will sit there and tell us that “a few bad cops” don’t represent the entire police force.
Malcolm X once said that, “When a person places the proper value on freedom, there is nothing under the sun that he will not do to acquire that freedom,” and, “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”
Colin Kaepernick kneeled during an anthem and was crucified by an entire nation. MLK Jr. tried to march peacefully at Selma, and his crowd was brutally beaten, and he was assassinated. Black people tried to vote for people who would bring change, and their voting sites were tampered with and elections were stolen. Years of peaceful protest were ignored. I will not condone violence, but as I look at an American history filled with Boston Tea Parties, Civil Wars, Nuclear Bombs, Revolts, Riots for voting rights, and billions spent on useless wars, violence has been the common thread in getting anything done. Flames are louder than chants, and the prevention of murder is more important than a Target. I want nothing but peaceful protest, but the anger behind the fires is justified.
New York Senator Zellnor Myrie pepper-sprayed by NYPD officers at a protest. Photo Source: Shannon Stapleton via Reuters
The Present
I am frustrated by my leaders. I am frustrated that those in power care more about staying in office, and pleasing the hands that fund them than protecting my life. I am frustrated that The President of the United States, an office that I was raised to respect, called myself and the people who are fighting for me “thugs,” but has publicly sided with white supremacists. I am frustrated that I no longer want to pursue a career in politics because I see people of color being shot down while in office. I am frustrated that in the 52 years since the Civil Rights movement, little has been done to end the racism that permeates every aspect of life in this country.
I am encouraged by the select few. I feel a sense of hope seeing a congresswoman march alongside those protesting, and fighting on the floors of The Capitol for my rights. I am encouraged to see my governor stand with the protestors. I am encouraged to see new diverse leaders elected to office. I am encouraged to see pockets of change in a vast land of adversity.
The Future
We are fighting for a future where we treat every human life like it matters. Black people deserve a future where their skin color is not treated as a crime. Black children deserve to be able to wear a hoodie and not be met with bullets. Black mothers deserve to watch their sons grow old, and not worry about never seeing them again every time they get behind the wheel.
Murderers deserve to be punished by the full extent of the law. The American people deserve to have a morally sound police system, a system that protects their rights, and protects their ability to keep the justice system in check. Breonna Taylor’s murderers walk free. Hundreds of officers kill black men and women and they get off easy, while the black community is left to grieve the loss of the innocent.
I want to be proud to be an American. I want to look at an American flag and know that when I say that we are “One Nation,” that I am included in that nation. I want to know that I will be treated with respect in a country that my ancestors built. I want to look at a White House that was built by slaves and see a leader who respects that history and leads with integrity and honor. However, I am not there yet, but I hope that I will be in my lifetime.
George. Breonna. Sandra, Trayvon. Ahmaud. Eric. Philando. Samuel. Emmett. Walter. Rodney. Carl. Aubrey. Alton. Walter. Yvette. Elisha. Tianno. Isaac. Glenn. Daniel. Dustin. Mario. Jason. Icarus. Monique. Stephon. Jerome. Kiarra. Andrew. Who knows how many more, they lived, they were murdered, they mattered.
I am my brother's keeper. I will fight for the rights of my fellow man, woman, or child, no matter what differences separate us. Right now, black lives are in jeopardy, and we must stand together for their protection. I was raised on morals that I will protect those who are in danger. Every religious text advocates for the protection of the martyr and the innocent. It is time that we begin to right the inequities that have halted progress for humanity. The challenges are immense, but we must try. We must use every resource, every voice, and every ounce of courage until we arrive at victory. It is our only chance to create a better world for the next generation. History is watching us, we must not give up. I will not give up. Black lives matter, and we must fight for that phrase to be our reality. It is our only chance.
Graffiti left after the protests in New York City. Photo via @NewYorkCity