George Floyd couldn't breath. and neither can millions of Black people across the world who had to witness yet another senseless act of violence carried out by the police force who we are expected to believe are paid to 'serve and protect' us.
The truth is, this has been far from the case and is evidenced by the long-standing #BlackLivesMatter hashtag that has taken social media by storm over the last week. In a wave of rightful anger and justice-seeking, people have been spreading the message of solidarity with targeted and disproportionately abused Black people all over the world.
But Black Lives Matter all the time; not just online, and there is work to be done to further this truth beyond the accessibility of chain tags and re-posting.
Outside of platforms that have the ability to desensitise the masses even to viewing a premeditated and cruel murder, we are constantly presented with the reality of the microaggressions that the injustice of the policing system is built on.
Sadly, what we see in those tormenting videos is the culmination of centuries of systematic and disproportionate harassment and incarceration of Black people. This systematic racism is evidenced by the racially contrasting results of Black and POC individuals that are processed through institutions compared to people of other ethnicities; results that lead to longer sentencing, more violence against and less justice for those individuals.
And this has never been surprising considering that these systems were built and solidified during the Jim Crow era where racism wasn't simply a sub-species of discreet discrimination but rather a fully fledged political stance.
The tragic reality is that to this day, non-Black people often claim racism does not exist, persisting: "slavery was abolished, what's the problem?". And that is precisely the problem. Racism to many of these people is the explicit act of calling someone a 'n*gger', and the disregard of every instance of silence when a Black person is denied a job, unlawfully detained or deemed a threat simply for being born Black. That we as Black people have to not only battle a system built to oppress, but explain all this is beyond exhausting, not to mention in-dignifying because how do you even justify a march for the right to EXIST in this day and age?
As the world watches tensely, thousands of activists and BLM supporters are risking their lives across the US, since protests against the unlawful killing of George Floyd began on the 27th March 2020 in Minnesota.
We live in an unprecedented age of connectivity and most of us were able to watch live as what turned into a violent demonstration unfolded. Many of use can agree that it felt like we were there, as mixed feelings of vindication and fury surfaced at images of police vehicles and buildings on fire. And whilst destruction is not what our cause is about, one can't help but resort to it when peace is ignored and the aforementioned prejudices of a corrupt system will paint a negative picture of Black people regardless.
It is important to realise then that this destruction is symbolic. And here's why:
Many societal infrastructures that contribute to these prejudices, hate crimes and discrimination are invisible. They have infiltrated schools were 6 year old Kaia Rolle, a young Black girl was arrested and taken into police custody simply for disobedience. They have infiltrated homes were Breonna Taylor, a Black woman was fatally shot in her own apartment. And they have infiltrated a society within which Belly Mujinga served but was not protected or given justice after being evilly exposed to a deadly virus. The silence and inaction of the justice system on these cases, and many many more is proof that racism is an underlying issue; that discrimination exists in the roots of structures that disregard the safety and most importantly humanity of Black people. Time and time again, nothing is done to bring the perpetrators to justice- a word which in itself has become meaningless and offensive to the Black community.
If we can't even begin to tackle this at its roots because it is so embedded in racist culture that it has become normalised, then of course we can understand why people would target the establishments that support this culture. And its no surprise that these happen to be the multi-million dollar corporations that support a brutal police force, the news that can never broadcast unbiased information and the police force itself.
For too long now, parents have had to sit their young children down and explain that because of the colour of their skin, they have to carry themselves differently, and constantly live on edge and in fear of being murdered. A young Black man's dream now may be simply to survive and honestly, is that not insanity?
If you're even able to understand how disgraceful and terrifying this is, and how normalised it is then your mission, not job, starts here.
To begin to dismantle this invisible systematic racism, that has a deathly grip over society, we need to individually address instances of it in our daily lives, every day. To put it plainly, White people have to do the lions share of the work. And not because all of them are the aggressors, but because the systems that upholds the racism was built by White people, is sustained by White people, and caters to White people.
As a human race, we are all one. But the racial distinctions that make us different, afford white people privileges that they need to use immediately to support their Black peers. In a system that will never see us as equals, White people need to come forward to defend and advocate for Black people, and every other racial minority as an act of humanity, because in a lot of instances, we are your friends and family. To be an ally, you need to believe our stories of racial injustice. You need to respect our culture and refrain from using it to your advantage whilst ignoring the fact that being Black comes with its own unique hardship. If you want in, you need to be all in. And in the midst of so many silenced Black voices, you need to use your White voice that is most often heard to speak up about issues that affect us when we cannot. But not just because you are White and we are Black, but because we are both human.
It goes without saying that it will take much more than this and possibly many more years before things change. And the problems run deep so the change needs to be an upheaval which will be no mean feat.
Whilst we all sit with these tragedies, we must at all costs protect our loved ones and our mental health. The effects of this legalised barbarianism on many people will be traumatic and generational and to begin to heal, we need to never stop fighting for change. Despite this, we cannot put ourselves in danger and over-extend to the point of burn out. If you're tired, hurt, depressed or traumatised then please rest. We're all fighting in every capacity we can afford and one day we'll win.
In the mean time, I strongly suggest that you keep burning. From within, or whatever you feel like. Because no fire is too big or bright until it burns injustice to ashes.
Remembering all those we have lost and thanking all those who are fighting.
Love, Eva.