We are currently in June 2020, a year that has already proven just six months in to be a tough one and as a human race we have already faced the same issues globally, issues that continue to rage on in regards to the ongoing battle to stay safe against COVID and dealing with a worldwide pandemic.
So many lives have been lost in the space of a few months, we are experiencing a crash in the economy, people are fighting to save their lives and their livelihoods, the ongoing police brutality that is continuously brought to our attention through news and social media and now the world is facing an issue that is by no means a new issue like the rest, more like a global ongoing problem for centuries, Racism.
I actually struggle to believe that we are in the year 2020 and we are still trying to battle against Racism in our world, a realisation that is both unacceptable and shocking to me. We are in the midst of worldwide protests for Black Lives Matter, following the death and murder of a black, American man named George Floyd, who was killed at the hands of a police officer that used uncalled for brute force to attempt arrest on the man.
Ongoing killings and acts of violence against the black community, particularly at the hands of law enforcement is a global problem and the death of George has prompted the community to come forward yet again to protest the injustice, police brutality and a larger scale protest against racism in general, something that is still very prevalent today.
The black community are not fighting alone as this is not a black vs white battle, this is everyone vs Racism. A battle that should been won a long time ago and all people from all walks of life, all colours, all genders, all religions, all classes have banded together to support the Black lives matter protests across the world in a bid to end the race war once and for all.
I have been keeping up with the protests, keeping myself wise to everything going on, making sure to research and educate myself as there is always more to learn about our world and the people in it. I am a huge supporter of the black lives matter movement personally and I will never understand what the black community face and have faced for hundreds of years but what I do know is, I stand with them and beside them, everyone deserves equality in this world and nobody should be looked down upon and certainly shouldn’t have to live their lives in fear.
Police brutality is completely unacceptable to me generally, sadly it seems to be worse than ever and cops that use brute force against civilians, particularly those who do not pose a threat and are unarmed, should be held accountable for any assault or violent injury and death they inflict on those they are arresting or attempting to arrest.
The protests have been both peaceful but for some it has escalated into aggression, the build-up of frustration for fighting for equality for way too long and not having their peaceful voices heard over many years, has prompted more violent protests because this is the only way sometimes that the community feels they can be heard and they are tired of people not hearing their voices. I can understand why things escalate and the fight to stand up and be taken seriously.
Personally I’m not a fan of any violence but I do understand why it escalates, as this is an ongoing battle for centuries that should have been heard and won a very long time ago. They need their voices to be heard and we need to help the movement, being sure to speak up with them and help their voices finally be heard.
I do not however agree with peaceful protests turning violent at the hands of the law as they open fire on peaceful and unarmed protestors with rubber bullets or tear gas or simply abusing their authority to push, shove or physically harm people simply to make an arrest.
While this may seem contradictory to some, I take my examples from other recent protests such as the anti-COVID protests in the US with an outcry from people that their human rights were being taken away by being ‘forced’ into lockdown and those people claiming that the virus we are currently experiencing is a hoax regardless of the fact many lives have been lost to this, mass amounts of people gathering for ridiculous reasons amidst a pandemic and the cops while present at these protests, were not seen to be opening fire on these particular protestors.
It’s completely unacceptable and particularly in a country such as the US that proclaims freedom of speech, others are able to protest peacefully without the police violently intervening such as the anti-corona protests, so why are these BLM protests any different or are the cops just proving the exact point in which the BLM movement is trying to make and there lies proof of discrimination in the behaviour of the people we believe are in their jobs to help, protect and serve their country and the people in it, the authorities we are supposed to trust and not fear.
It also says a lot about leadership when the current president of the US publicly states that military force will be used on BLM protests and actively encourages law enforcement to open fire on the American people, yet was seen to be in favour of the anti-corona protests and even encouraging toward his supporters to air their feelings about the virus being blown out of proportion.
Black lives matter needs a leader more than ever, one that isn’t afraid to hide behind a fence from their own people and actually step up and make some moves toward making racism and police brutality a thing of the past.
The amount of racism and white privilege in this world is quite frankly gross and uncalled for; to be racist is one of the largest forms of ignorance that you can get.
Racism is learned behaviour, perhaps people grow up in an environment around racism and sadly the distorted and uneducated views of racist behaviour get passed down onto generations, so when will it ever stop?
It’s a dangerous time to be out there in the world in the midst of a pandemic, in large crowds but I applaud the protestors for powering through and fighting another pandemic that is racism in our world and fighting for human rights. I do hope everyone is trying their best to stay as safe as possible in every respect.
If you wish to help but are too afraid to protest but you’re a supporter of BLM, that’s okay too please don’t feel bad about this and do everything you can from the safety of your home to keep the message going. Educate yourself on black history, point others in the right direction to educate themselves, promote black owned businesses, share success stories and powerful messages provided by the black community, sign every petition that you see that favours the black lives matter movement and most importantly speak up, you should keep the topic at hand alive, share everything and never stop the discussion around racism. It may be uncomfortable to discuss but it needs to be done and changes need to happen now.
If you’re ever going to be passionate about anything in this world, this should be it. The fight for equality and human rights, the end of racism and the end of every other ignorant attitude that some incredibly self-entitled people have in this world.
It should be a mission for future generations, no matter the views of their parents or grandparents to find their own opinions and do their own research, educate themselves and get out there, meet people from all countries, all races and all walks of life.
We can hope and encourage our younger generation to bypass ignorance and actually see for themselves that no matter what race, gender, sexual orientation or religion people are or the values they hold, that we are no different from one another and that’s how it should be, we are all equal and we only deserve freedom when the world comes to that realisation that everybody should be treated and cared for equally across the board.
We need to fight against the injustice of the world and never stop fighting for equality, we can only hope for a day when everyone can be seen as the equals that they are and our world would be a much better place for this.
Support the BLM movement and stand together as one race, a human race.
I wrote the above blog a couple of weeks ago, the BLM protests have slowly come to an end but this is NOT something we simply forget or stop talking about.
This is an ongoing battle and we still have a long way to go, always make your voice heard and don’t be silent on these issues.
The protests may be over for now but the movement is still going, see how you can help and do what you can to show support for black lives matter.
Please see below all of the links that you may find useful in helping support BLM.
Thanks for reading.
I also recorded two videos of me discussing and reading out the above blog post, I know tone can be hard to convey and it’s super important to hear spoken words in subject matters such as these. So if you wish to watch me talking about the blog and reading it back, please find those links below.
Part one: https://youtu.be/2APRMT6raBI
Part Two: https://youtu.be/JLO94mVKaEw
K x
BLM LINKS BELOW:
link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic
Link: https://www.timeout.com/things-to-do/how-to-support-black-lives-matter
Link: https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/01/white-people-why-vital-speak-racism-even-scared-12786718/
Link: http://rainternational.org/the-12-steps/
Link: https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/10/12-black-owned-businesses-need-buy-right-now-12830653/
