George Floyd 8:46
While this chapter and verse in the book of life as a Black man reminds us that racism in the United States has lived a robust life, the Black Lives Matter Movement is going to finally exorcise its existence.
Pure evil choked the breath and life out of George Floyd. Pure hatred perpetuated it and allowed it to happen.
This is the same evil and the same hatred that have been embedded in racism and have been inflicted against Black human beings in the United States for over 400 years. Destructive, vile, heinous, vicious, and malicious acts have been committed against Black men, women and children overtly and covertly for centuries. Some of these inexcusably blatant transgressions and abuses against Black humanity have included slavery, lynching, unconscious bias, segregation, rape, police brutality, discrimination, executions, voter suppression, inequalities, and racial disparities in the United States criminal justice system.
The powerful voices that rang out through the ages that tried to stop racism could not.
Despite their verbal eloquence, influence, level of education, wisdom, notoriety, and followers, Black leaders like Sojourner Truth who was a Black Abolitionist, Martin Luther King who led the Civil Rights Movement until his untimely death in 1968, Malcolm X who was a Black human rights activist, and countless others could not destroy the roots of racism deeply planted in the hearts of those who cultivated and preserved it.
There have been those who took action to condemn racial atrocities against Black human beings like Colin Kaepernick. He was an NFL quarterback who publicly denounced racial injustices by popularizing the act of taking a knee during the National Anthem during public events. Rosa Parks was another activist who started the Civil Rights Movement when she refused to give up her bus seat for a White man in 1955. Despite the non-violent actions that these and so many other Black leaders took to quietly protest, the system of racism has been too pervasive to change.
Highly successful Black individuals who were celebrated through the centuries as forerunners gave Black individuals hope and a reason to believe that racism would finally end. Some of these critical figures have included President Obama who became the first President of the United States in 2008, Jackie Robinson who became the first African American Major League Baseball player in 1947, and Richard Allen who founded the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1793. They did not possess enough influence to block the hold that racism had on powerful masses.
The Swift
Gianna was right. The little six year old daughter of George Floyd said
“Daddy changed the world.”
One voice has the ability to amplify a cause. However, one unified voice combined with thousands of other national and global voices that consists of a rainbow of humanity does more than amplify a cause. This unity has the power to produces change.
Diverse races, ages, religions, countries, genders, and other people groups have joined the Black Lives Matters Movement.
The brutal reality has been confronted. Racism really does exist in the United States. Black lives have been dehumanized and devalued throughout the history of this country. Black men, woman, and children have also been brutalized and victimized by police.
The unrelenting power of the Black Lives Matters voices will finally exorcise the evil and hatred that have continued to propelled, celebrated, and protected racism. The Black Lives Matters Movement will annihilate racism.
When this happens, the words
“with liberty and justice for all”
will finally live up to the true meaning embedded in the Pledge of Allegiance of the United States.
I have hope. I believe.
Here’s my golden ticket that helps me accomplish my mission.
Dr. Deborah M. Vereen is a retired Teacher and School Administrator. Her website is www.Drdeborahmvereen.com and her YouTube Channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS1DPhBeA29UlybU9jzDkdQ .