What makes #AhmaudArbery different? Why is he the one that “opened” your eyes?
Tell me, why did you #IRunWithMaud?
Is it because we’ve been in quarantine for weeks now? Is it because deep down you want acknowledgment that you care?
What about all the others, did you care about them too?
Did you wear a hoodie to honor #TrayvonMartin? Did you tape your mouth shut and write “I can’t breathe” for #EricGarner?
I don’t remember seeing your fervent show of “support” for the others. Were you silently thinking of all the things the victims should have done differently?
How long before you forget about #AhmaudArbery? Only to be reminded when Facebook shares your “On this Day” memories a year later.
Have I made you uncomfortable yet? Because there are so many others, I could go on and on and on…
You see this is not the first, the second, or the 100th time for that matter. I’m positive it won’t be the last.
The turmoil you’re feeling right now will probably be temporary. Soon you’ll be safely tucked back in your world of white suburbia peace.
But for me, for us, #AhmaudArbery is an everyday reality that’s impossible to escape.
For every senseless death, there is a mother, a daughter, a father, a son, and a community of black people left grieving. Justice goes unserved more often than not. Another blow to the heart of Black America.
For every life that’s reduced to a hashtag–
Our hearts break a little more,
Our frustrations intensify,
Our anger grows deeper.
So do you still think we’re just “Aggressive Black Men” and “Angry Black Women?”
Tell me, if it was your sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors, wouldn’t you be angry?
This is why #BlackLivesMatter. It doesn’t mean all lives don’t matter. But for every time you kill us, for reasons that would never result in death if the victim was white, the message is reinforced that black lives indeed DON’T matter.
So my last question to you is…
Do you want to be a part of the problem or part of the solution? Because we are TIRED and YOU can help!
#BothemSean #AtatianaJefferson #JonathanFerrell #RenishaMcBride #StephonClark #JordanEdwards #JordanDavis #AltonSterling #AiyanaJones #MikeBrown #TamirRice #Charleston9 #SeanBell #OscarGrant #SandraBland #PhilandoCastile #CoreyJones #JohnCrawford #TerrenceCrutcher #KeithScott #CliffordGlover #ClaudeReese #RandyEvans #YvonneSmallwood #AmadouDiallo #WalterScott #FreddieGray #BreonnaTaylor
Thank you that for reminding us that while this is not something we have to deal with that it is real and that happens daily even if we don’t witness it. We should be teaching our families, and educating them and showing by example that everyone is human and therefore equal and deserves the same treatment of love, kindness and brotherhood/sisterhood that we give to our race.