This past couple of days has been absolutely insane in my life and the world in general!
I am never one to talk politics or to really actively engage in too much of what is going on in the world. It’s not me being ignorant. The reason I actively disengage is because most of it is negative and I try to keep myself enveloped in as much positivity as possible, particularly when I’m already going through the wars myself (read: my very real Olympic journey: the Road to Rio was heart-breakingly ended by an injury! Insert grief and growth.) So anyway, do you understand? I’m just not a fan of the daily news – it’s full of fear and hate and sadness. That’s just not my cup of tea.
So it was really unusual that I’ve been so emotionally and visually involved in the events unfolding over this week – the rediscovered #BlackLivesMatter movement. I say ‘rediscovered’ but I know it never left; it was just not ‘trending’ over Twitter or other social networking sites for a while. Black lives matter. All lives matter. But for the love of God, what is wrong with a small percentage (or so I hope) of the ‘serve and protect’ cop gang in the mighty US of A?! America, get a grip!
Just because a black man or woman is strapped…hmmm let me rephrase that. Just because a man or woman is black does not mean they will be strapped, armed whatever you want to call it and just because they’re strapped does not mean they are going to kill you. And just because they’re selling CDS on the street, doesn’t mean you have a right to brutalise and murder them in cold blood. Okay. I’ve let it out. Kind of….
506 black people killed by cops in the USA in 2016 to date. FIVE HUNDRED AND SIX. In SIX MONTHS! That is a disgusting statistic. And I’m assuming that’s not even counting the likes of Sandra Bland and Shaun King and the many other women and men like them who die in police custody but nobody gets blamed and justice is certainly not served. The reason for death is simply “failure to receive adequate medical attention.” And life goes on…for the cops.
There is often film footage too documenting this police brutality. (Alton Sterling…Philando Castile.) So what happens next? Does the cop serve time for his crime? Why just a day later was another black man shot and killed seemingly for no good reason? I’d love answers. And so would the world. I know I’m not going to find them by blogging about it or tweeting or getting teary-eyed. But how? Even those in a position of power – or so it seems because they are celebs and politicians and presidents (Barack, I’m looking at you) – aren’t doing enough. At times like this I honestly feel so helpless. And it sucks. What’s a girl to do?
