All Lives Matter

“This is not the way to protest,” I hear you say.

I read your post as you exclaim, “you are scum for destroying that monument!”

“If there is a second spike I know who to blame,” I see on your Facebook page.

We have a problem.

The problem is this:

You.

Unintentionally.

But it’s you.

If everyone agreed that ALL LIVES MATTER, the “Black Lives Matter” movement would not exist. It wouldn’t be necessary for it to.

But it is necessary.

Police brutality against black people is a rule, not an exception.

Being scared for your life when you are black every time you leave the house is a reality.

It is your oblivious selective hearing that has enabled this escalation.

You heard the fall of a statue but…

Did you hear the choking?

Did you hear the crying?

You see the violence in the city but…

Did you see his eyes go red?

Did your mother watch your death on TV?

Let that sit.

You have a bitter taste in your mouth as you watch the riots destroy the amenities of your town but…

Did you taste the fear as you realised you were living your last moment?

You feel angst at the potential of a second spike in the pandemic but…

Did you feel the gravel cut across your cheeks from the exerted force as his weight pushed your face against the ground?

Did you feel your strength drain out of you as your body lost its oxygen?

Did you feel powerless over your own existence?

No you did not. Because you are privileged.

If you say being alive is a basic human right and not a privilege, then you must stand with

Black

Lives

Matter.

Because right now, black people do not have the basic human right to live.

Thousands of people have died at the hands of a broken system.

People are protesting because your lack of understanding prevents progression.

People are angry because they have been oppressed and ignored.

If you begin to understand what we are fighting for, you will see what we see. You will feel wronged too.

Use your privilege to help fix the system.

R.I.P George Floyd.