Estimated Reading Time: 8.5 minutes
*DISCLAIMER: INVOLVES EDUCATION OF RACISM IN AMERICA. PLEASE KEEP COMMENTS RESPECTFUL OR YOU WILL BE REMOVED. THANK YOU*
LA Johnson/NPR
Hello all. Once again, I come to you writing in a state of hurt, pain, and sadness. It’s been difficult not to hear about the recent events in the United States concerning the unlawful death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed by a white police officer, along with his fellow officers, in Minnesota. For my faithful readers who do not live in the United States and may not know why this is such an important issue, allow me to explain:
- Unarmed Black and brown people in America have always been murdered by white police officers, racists, and supremacists. It dates back to the 1800s when over 3,000 lynchings of Black people occurred in the United States between 1882-1968. For those who don’t know what lynching is, it is when a person is hung from a tree by their neck from a rope. Lynching occurred because of racism and, for no reason, killing innocent black people. One of the most well-known lynchings in our History was Emmett Till. He was a 14-year-old African Amerian who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 because he was accused of being inappropriate to a white woman. He was so severely beaten and lynched that his face was unrecognizable. 62 years later, in 2017, the woman who claimed that Emmett Till grabbed her and whistled at her, confessed that she fabricated her story.
- Lynchings then turned into police brutality. Although there were many cases of this hateful act, another moment in American History that changed us all was the 1992 video tapping of the Los Angeles Police violently beating Rodney King. Although the officers on the tape were arrested, they were then acquitted of all charges against them.
- Since 1992, the killings of black and brown Americans (men and women) have reached numbers that are impossible to ignore.
But alas, even with the knowledge of this and with what we see on social media, it never seems to end. Although I came here to use my writing platform as a way of educating those who may not be aware of what is going on, something has been sitting on my heart for the past seven days, and now is the time I say something. Before I do, I want to tell you a little story.
During my senior year of high school, I was placed in one of those advanced courses for Creative Writing. (Shocking!). I learned the art of writing, and we always had great prompts to use. I actually wrote some of my best work in that class. One day, our teacher (who shall remain nameless but let’s call her Ms. X). Ms. X gave us our next writing assignment. She had two writing classes, we were class one, and the other was two. The task was to bring in a picture to the class. It could be of anyone or anything but specifically a picture that is special to you. The next day I brought in my photo, it was of two of my brothers standing in front of their car outside of our childhood home. I was happy and excited to show off my handsome brothers to everyone. Then, we had to glue our pictures inside of our writing notebooks and then swap with her class two. The point of the assignment was to be creative and write a story based on what we saw.
The notebook I received from the other class was a picture of a little boy, smiling while holding his newborn brother (or sister…can’t remember). Anyway, I wrote my story and then gave the notebook back to Ms. X. I received an A on my assignment but was more excited to see what the other anonymous student wrote about my brothers. The next day we all got our notebooks back, and I rushed to the picture glued in at the top of the page. What happened after that changed my life forever.
The title of the story that this student wrote was called “GANG, TROUBLE, HELP.” The summary of this story was two gang members bully this teenager in the neighborhood and steal from him, beat him, and the teenager has to get help because of these two gang members. It wasn’t a long story, but it said everything it needed to say to open my eyes to what the world was really like. As I read my story and grew more confused as to why this person would call my brothers gang members, Ms. X called me out to the hallway. Her words were, “I know you received your story back, but I know you have an open mind.” She continued to tell me to keep this on the down-low and not make a big fuss about it. A few months later, a young teenager who was the same age as me, was walking home at night to his father’s house with Skittles and Arizona Iced Tea and was killed by George Zimmerman who saw this kid’s brown skin and hoodie and made up in his mind that he was a threat. This teenager’s name was Trayvon Martin.
I actually never told my family this, but I had this anger inside of me for a long time. Why were my brothers’ gang members in that story? Why did that little girl in second grade tell me I spoke funny? Why is Travyon Martin dead? Answer: BLACK. SKIN. Wait…really? Wait…no that can’t be it. You mean to tell me, my skin color, a natural pigmentation that chemically creates a hue, and I can’t change it because it’s passed down from dominant and recessive traits given to me by my parents and their parents and their parents…that’s why Trayvon is dead? That’s why my brothers look like nothing else but gang members? Not even knowing the fact that they’re both Christians, ministers, fathers, and husbands who have no gang activity what so ever? It’s my skin color that makes it difficult to get a word in when a discussion is happening in the classroom, even though my hand was raised in the sea of my white counterparts? It’s my skin color that makes it impossible to even think that I couldn’t be educated in the slightest because all black and brown people are ignorant with no intelligence? It’s skin color that makes standing on a corner, taking out the trash, drinking coffee in Starbucks, riding the train, pray in church, go to a party, read a book in our car, walking with our grandfather, ask a cop a question, go for a fun, sleep in our homes, or breathe??
Let me ask you something:
Does he look threatening? NO! THIS IS MY FATHER. HIS LIFE MATTERS!
As I’m writing, I might actually do a series surrounding racial politics, injustice, systematic racism, etc. Anything I can teach and spread through my platform about what is important, I am willing to do it as long as it takes! My final piece of advice to you is to be the change. Don’t just scroll through social media or watch the news and simply discuss the issues in your homes. Don’t only share posts and put hashtags. Actually, do something! Donate to the organizations and fundraisers that are happening nationwide. Actually, read books and free resources that are being published all over the internet. Watch the documentaries and films on the streaming services that have topics related to what is happening. Organize an online group discussion about what you have read or watched. Post on your social media or other platforms about what you have learned and gained knowledge of by watching it. There are so many things you can do from the comfort of your own home! Also, remember that we are still enduring Covid-19. If you do go out and protest in person, please continue to practice social distancing and wear your masks and gloves!
If you are not Black American but have friends or co-workers who are, check on them, but don’t just say generic phrases like, “How are you?” or “It’s a shame what’s happening.” Ask them how they are doing mentally and emotionally but then ask them, what can I do to help? How can I be part of the change? Never in American History have protests spread in all 50 states and on every continent. From Tokyo to London to Berlin to Iran, black people have received an overwhelming but needed support and love. Let’s not stop here. We can’t let a few months go by with no change or forget what is happening now. We are living in History, so be part of that History!
Thank you to my readers for allowing me to be transparent with you once again. Wouldn’t be here without you!
‘Til Next Time! 🖤
Click Here for More Information About How You Can Be Part of the Change
To the Black Girl Who Loves the Jonas Brothers
Writing Is... 
1 thought on “#OurLivesMatter!”