Do you know who Collins Khosa is? Do you know who George Floyd is? Or rather, should I ask, do you know who they were? More importantly, do you know how they died? Collins Khosa and George Floyd were two Black men who were killed at the hands of police officers. This is known as the struggle Black people have faced for generations and generations. It is also known as police brutality. This is result of the racism that is still in the world.
My favourite quote is by an author named Angie Thomas who states, “People like us in situations like these become hashtags but they rarely get justice.” She wrote this famous line in a book called ‘The Hate U Give’. This book, I find, is especially relevant now, because it portrays a raw description of what police brutality is and the struggle that Black people, and other people of colour, face.
The #BlackLivesMatter movement is not something new. This is a movement that has always been ongoing, but people, or more specifically Black people, have reached a point where serious change needs to happen and fast. The death of Collins Khosa and the video of the death of George Floyd caused a wave of anger that was felt all over the world. This video showed the raw brutality Black people face on a daily basis in regards to police officers. The video showed how the officers had absolutely no regard towards the human life that they took with no remorse. The video showed how George Floyd had BEGGED for his life and told those police officers REPEATEDLY that he could not breathe. This video made people of all races finally see the brutality Black people face and has forced people to question how many other victims there are where no video or picture was put on social media.
On social media there is a hashtag going around – #AllLivesMatter. Something people need to understand is that the #BlackLivesMatter movement is not a movement stating that no other lives matter. This is a movement that fights for Black lives; this movement is a statement that Black lives matter. By using this hashtag (#AllLivesMatter), you are therefore going against the Black Lives Matter movement. Understand that this movement is not about one race being better than the other. Educate yourself on the matters happening and the brutality Black people face, every day, and then you’ll see why an importance is being put on this movement. Do not assume you know what the Black Lives Matter movement is about without educating yourself first.
Protests for the deaths of Black people, and against the police brutality they face, are happening all over the world. Videos and pictures of the protests are put on social media, every hour, and more and more videos of police brutality against Black people are showing up on social media. This movement needs all the attention it can get, because it is long overdue. Time is up and people are angry. Everyone is angry and if you truly do not understand why, then it is time for you to stop what you are about to say and listen to what these people are saying, what people are screaming and what people are pleading for.
It is time for you to say their names: George Floyd, Collins Khosa, Breonna Taylor, Sibusiso Amos, Petrus Migguls, Adane Emmanual, Philando Castile, Natasha Mckenna, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott and thousands of others. It is time for you to say their names and get ANGRY. It is time for all of us to fight back. Let these people’s deaths become more than just a hashtag. Let it become a movement for a revolution of change. Let Black people get the justice they deserve.