Enough is Enough.

Jun 7, 20203 min read

Updated: Jun 9, 2020

There comes a time in a young Black person's life where they realize that America isn't exactly home of the free. I've always known about racism, segregation, discrimination growing up but had never felt the anger and pain until now.

I'm angry because my people have been fighting the same fight for hundreds of years, and no one seems to hear or see our pain.

I'm sad because people who look like me are getting killed by the very people who are supposed to be protecting us.

I'm scared because I live in a country where every time my brothers, my boyfriend, and my dad leave the house, I have to pray that they will come back home.

Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Dontre Hamilton, John Crawford III, Tamir Rice, Tony Robinson, Freddie Gray, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and many more! Say their names. Shout it from the rooftops until someone hears it and finally realizes we have been crying for a change to this justice system.

According to the Washington Post, about 1,004 people were killed in wrongful shootings by the police in 2019. 235 of that number were African Americans. And between the years of 2013-2019, 99% of the cops were not charged. Many of the names on the list have not had the justice they truly deserve and that 99% should not be that high and that's a problem that as Americans we need to tackle together.

The recent murder of George Floyd sparked all types of conversations all over the internet. Generation Z began to speak up more and more about the movement of Black Lives Matter and made sure their voices were being heard.

They went to Twitter and Instagram to discuss how racism is a very real and prevalent thing against the Black community. Black people from all over went on social media and talked about the many accounts of racism they have faced growing up. Many people heard demeaning comments and even witnessed tragic acts as well.

People went on to these large social media platforms to create petitions for the family of Floyd. They starting hashtags and dropping many resources for people to learn more information on everything happening and what exactly they can do to help.

It wasn't just Black people speaking up about the tragic death of Floyd and the racism that sweeps this country, but many other races were coming together and declaring "I understand that I can never understand, but I stand with you."

This message alone was sending volumes through the media that many people were recognizing this as a problem that the nation needed to change. Many celebrities also were seen protesting right along other citizens because we are all Americans fighting the same fight against racism.

So what's next for us as Black Americans? We have to keep fighting for our lives to make sure that the government is hearing us and hopefully will reform the justice system in this country. Black lives should not be killed at the hands of the police so brutally and tragically.

What can we do to help? Sign every petition you see, donate if you can, go out to the protests and the memorials, and spread as much awareness of the movement as much as possible.

George Floyd died a tragic and brutal death by the police, but his death caused a lot of us to see the injustice that we have been facing for all these years.

Recently, Reverend Al Sharpton described what exactly Floyd's death meant to the Black community at Floyd's funeral.

"George Floyd's story has been the story of Black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, they have kept their knees on our neck. We had creative skills, but we couldn't get your knee off our neck. Like George, we couldn't breathe. It's time for us to stand up and say, 'Get your knees off our necks.'"