On Wednesday morning, I turned on the news to learn about Alton Sterling, a 37 year old black man who was shot to death by the police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. During the night of July 5, police received an anonymous call from a person stating that Sterling had threatened them with a gun. When police arrived in front of the convenience store that Sterling was selling CDs at, he showed no signs of resistance. He did not reach for his gun, or engage in any verbal or physical alterations with the police: his hands were empty. The two officers proceeded to throw him to onto a car hood, and then onto the ground. Video footage shows an officer reaching for a gun. He shot Alton Sterling in the chest and back. Somehow during the encounter, the police officers’ body cameras became “dislodged” according to the Baton Rouge Police Department. If it weren’t for a cell phone video recording of the event, we would have no idea what actually took place on the night of July 5, as the police took all remaining surveillance cameras from the convenience store where the shooting took place.
The owner of the store, Abdullah Muflahi, told CNN that Alton Sterling was a “man who [he’d know for six years] that never got into fights.” In addition to being a friend, he was a father of five.” At a news conference on July 6, Sterling’s oldest son, Cameron Sterling, can be seen standing alongside his mom sobbing “I want daddy.” His mother states, “As a mother, I have now been forced to raise a son who is going to remember what happened to his father.”
Hours later, I turned on the news to learn about Philando Castile’s shooting in Falcon Heights, Missouri. Again, if it weren’t for a cell phone video recording of the event, we would have no idea what actually took place. Castile, who was 32 years old, was pulled over for having a broken taillight. When the police approached his car, Castile was asked for his I.D. According to Castile’s girlfriend, Lavish Reynolds, Philando then announced to police that he legally had a gun. He proceeded to reach for his I.D., as he was asked to, but he could never get to it because he was fatally shot to death. After the officer shot Castile four times, Lavish Reynolds did the best thing possible: pulled out her cell phone.
Three things seem clear: 1-Body cameras are not an adequate answer, 2-Open/concealed carry laws are no protection, 3-Cellphones are a must.
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) July 7, 2016
For me, getting the news about Alton Sterling and Philando Castile felt too familiar, almost as if it were deja-vu. It’s too often that I turn on the news to hear that a black person has died at the hands of the police. I felt a sudden chill of fear: fear for all black people and also fear of the people who are supposed to be there to protect us, the police. I myself was also scared. I knew that as a black woman, I am still a target. My gender identity does not exclude me from police brutality. My mind then turned back in time. It was suddenly 2012 again in Sanford, Florida, and I had just heard about Trayvon Martin. After walking home from a store, he was wearing a hoodie, and was spotted by George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch. During a 911 call, Zimmerman is heard telling dispatchers, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining, and he’s just walking around.” He goes as far to telling dispatchers that the man looks as if he is black. Moments later, just like that, Trayvon was dead.
I remember in July 2013 when George Zimmerman was found not guilty for slaying the 18 year old. Then, there was the time in Cleveland, Ohio when the officer who shot Tamir Rice to death for mistaking his toy gun for a real firearm did not face any charges. I thought about how there was no indictment against the officer who illegally put Eric Garner in a chokehold in Staten Island, New York and proceeded to kill him even though Garner chanted “I can’t breathe” eleven times. The list of police officers that face no charges for fatally killing a black person goes on and on. In the midst of this, I start to think about the victims. Each and every time, the black victims of police brutality are painted out to be criminals. Skeletons are pulled from the closet as we see old mugshots and learn about minor run-ins with the law. There’s always a false justification that they somehow deserved their deaths. Because they were black, we have forgotten that they were human beings. A few weeks ago, the Stanford rape case was all over the news. Brock Turner was sentenced to six months in jail for raping an unconscious girl behind of a garbage can. Despite his cruel act, I couldn’t escape hearing about how he was a student athlete at the Ivy League Stanford University. Article after article, I read about how Brock Turner had so much to lose. However, if Brock Turner were black, his story would be told so differently.
If Brock Turner were black, we’d know every crime he ever committed. But he’s white, so we know his swimming stats. — Justin (@JustinAion) June 7, 2016
I think about all of the protesters that accumulate after each name becomes a hashtag. My mind is now on the many protesters who filled Missouri following the murder of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. Hours before Missouri’s state curfew, the police cleared protests occurring in Ferguson by spraying tear gas in the air. Protesters were deemed as “rowdy.” They were looked down upon because they “destroyed American cities.” However, it is important to consider two things: why protesters were protesting in the first place, which is, in reality, the real problem, and the fact that a majority of protesters were black
I’m angered, sad, and I am hurting. Another member of my community has to die unjustly because of the color of their skin. Although this is who they were born as, they suffer because of the preconceived stereotypes that have existed about them since the birth of this country. Blacks have suffered here, and all around the world, for hundreds of years. Instead of the situation getting better, it’s just continuing in different ways.
Today as I was gathering research for this piece, I went on Google and searched “Black Lives Matter Movement is.” Some words that came up from my search were “wrong,” “ridiculous,” “a joke,” and “stupid.” I’m here to say that none of this is true. According to the website, “Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.” They believe in dignity, justice and freedom, not in killing police officers as revenge. We need the #BlackLivesMatter movement because this is a pattern. A pattern that will not be broken until we speak up about it. In this country, there is a disregard for black bodies. According to Mapping Police Violence, “black people are three times more likely to be shot by police than white people.” As long as this cycle keeps happening, the Black Lives Matter movement is completely necessary because black lives do matter.
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