I donāt normally post stuff like this. Most people who know me know Iām an activist. You know I care a lot and I speak out against issues that bother me. But the one place I donāt speak out is on social media.
I found that most people will turn a post about a heartfelt issue into a joke once itās on Facebook or Instagram. And I never want the issues that I care about to feel like they were a joke. But this is pushing me past my breaking point.
When I was a little girl I was told so many times I had to be careful because of the way I looked. I was told to be diligent and occasionally be silent. I was told to make my actions known to move slowly not to incite fear. I was taught how to keep myself safe in a world where my safety could be jeopardized simply because of my appearance.
We shouldnāt have to train kids how not to get shot. We shouldnāt have to train kids how not to seem like a threat. They are kids. They are not a threat.
In the last five years weāve had over 5000 police shootings in the US that resulted in a fatality from police officers. 50% of those shootings were African Americans, but only 13% of the population is African-American. These disproportionate statistics are terrifying.
The Washington post has made a database that tracks all police shootings since the Michael Brown shooting in 2014 and the numbers are heartbreaking.
353 of those 5000+ shootings were unarmed civilians.
If youāre not armed there is no reason you should lose your life.
What are we training pur police officers?
Why canāt they take down an unarmed person without killing them?
And these numbers donāt include those who died from asphyxiation or those who succumbed to brutal injuries because they were beaten to death. These are just shootings. And itās gut wrenching.
Where is the public outcry?
Where are their memorials?
Why are we allowing this to happen?
Why donāt we come together as a nation?
Why donāt we care?
We make jokes about āBlack Lives Matterā and the āMe Tooā movement and all those people trying to bring attention to the injustices that they face. We take their voice away from them by saying āAll Lives Matterā. We let murderers and criminals go free under the guise of them doing their job. We validate their actions when we let them walk after a life was needlessly lost.
In some cases maybe fatal force is necessary but you cannot tell me that every single case of these 5000 deaths were justified.
No one should fear being shot in their bed.
No one should be arrested for shooting in self-defense after a break-in in their home.
No one should cry out that they canāt breathe and still have a knee crushing their windpipe until they die.
Especially not someone who is not resisting arrest and is currently detained.
A 12-year-old shouldnāt be shot in the park because they have a Nerf gun in their hands.
A man shouldnāt be gunned down because itās suspected that he might be a robber by people who are not even a police officers.
There is no citizens arrest that should excuse a fatal shooting.
People are dying.
People are crying.
People are morning.
And these are our people.
This is not us versus them. This isnāt blacks versus whites. We are all Americans. We are made up of different races and cultures. We all live in this country together. It shouldnāt matter what you look like and I know that may be wishful thinking but I believe it. The only way to stop this is to stop dividing us. Stop telling your white friends to āpolice our ownā and tell ALL your friends to not tolerate and injustice. Stop telling you black friends to āstand with us brotherā and tell EVERYONE in your circle that we all have to unite. Stop dividing us in your mind. Stop dividing us in your heart.
Fear will wipe us out if we donāt stop it. This will ruin our nation. This could ruin our world.
Shootings Since 2014
Shot by police: 5,417 people
Shot while unarmed: 353
Shot while unarmed and white: 146
Shot while unarmed and black: 123
Shot while unarmed and a minor: 14
