Time for a Change

"Lives Matter"

 

A close friend of mine reached out a few days ago to check if I was ok considering the difficult time we have been faced with in the last couple of days, weeks, and months. Words could not describe how I felt last week when I heard about George Floyd’s death, even until now it has been extremely difficult to comprehend the brutal killing which has touched millions of lives across the globe. And for that, I gathered all my energy inside to message my friend back and replied:

“Thank you for your message, I’m good thanks. Sad times we live in, compared to how life was the last time we spoke. It feels like it is a never-ending, one thing after another. It was COVID 19 and we are still in the COVID 19 situation of following the rules and regulations of Lockdown, but now we have Black Lives Matter”.

In truth, I did shed a tear for George Floyd’s death, I was angry, enraged and there have been millions of people that felt the same way because even though most of us didn’t know him personally, it was the sadness and heartbreak for his family but also our black community. At the end of the day, we are related by race and I/we as in the black community feel that our race yet again has been attacked by horrifying social acts of Racism, Injustice and Prejudice and this has to END.

Should it be this difficult for the Black Race to exist on this planet? It shouldn’t be this painful to live in a society where you are constantly looking over your shoulders and being vigilant that you don’t get stopped and searched by the police for no apparent reason or get stopped in the street for what you are wearing or tone of voice that has been made under the assumption of aggression.

We have always been stereotyped as a race that needs to work that extra harder than the white race and I am sick and tired of having to prove myself. All we want is to be able to co-exist freely, heal our community and earn our place in society without any trouble and violence but that’s not the case as we always end up a victim you hear about on the BBC 6.0 clock news or CNN channel.

George Floyd was 46 years old and was murdered in cold blood in Minneapolis, US on the 25th May 2020 at the hands of a police officer Derek Chauvin who kneeled on his neck for approximately 9 minutes, three additional officers were at the scene and didn’t do a damn thing. They did not think twice of the force, compression on George Floyd’s neck and back. In his last few moments, Floyd uttered the words “I CAN’T BREATHE” which has been loudly chanted throughout the social media channels, amongst protestors in the streets across the world, slogans and pictures on t-shirts, murals on street walls, pavements, posters and banners. It is a message portraying to The Human Race that RACISM is real, it is amongst us and it must END. We understand change is not going to happen overnight, but we need to speak up, oppose RACISM and not be silenced.

In his final moments, he also called out for his mother and, his mother died two years ago. Ask yourself, what does that tell you? The words, sadness, grief, heartache, anger and RAGE will be remembered forever when we think about this horrific tragedy. With that in mind, it shows you how much force was inflicted on this man’s neck and in result has become detrimental, a prime example of a brutal murder which could have been prevented like so many others.

In the climate we live in, this is not how life should be, there should be peace amongst the races, not rage, anger and discrimination. We should bring forth real change and stick by those changes.

Nelson Mandela once said, “It is your hands to create a better world for all who live in it”.

And he is right. This is the time to make our voices heard.

• We need to encourage peace and solidarity.
• We need to challenge rightful justice.
• We need to put a stop to police brutality whether it is in the UK, US or worldwide.
• We need to raise awareness.
• We need to ensure we educate ourselves, so we are all fighting for the same cause and understand why it has come to this.

As a black woman, born and bred in London, I want to do all in my power to support my black brothers and sisters, encourage others regardless of what race and colour to stand with the black community and bring forth peace, raising awareness, signing petitions and donating, voicing your an opinion that SYSTEMATIC RACISM needs to be corrected.

We have lost so many lives with regards to RACISM. Members of the black community have lost their people such as:

• Breonna Taylor
• Ahmaud Arbery
• Mark Duggan
• Stephen Lawrence
• Belly Mujinga

And that is only to name a few. The list goes on and it will continue to grow until there is justice for our black victims. Thousands of people joined forces during this week to support the Black Lives Matter Movement, shouting out and chanting in the streets in aid of achieving solidarity even celebrities such as Star Wars actor John Boyega and many others joined protestors on Wednesday this week, showing passion for the cause, expressing and crying out:

“How painful this is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing”, John Boyega said.

It makes me angry because this has been going on for decades, centuries going back to slavery times. “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”. I am not one to remain silent, I speak my mind and so should you.

We do not want history to continue repeating itself, we want to encourage change and avoid creating a culture war. By achieving this, we need everyone’s support and with that comes strength, compassion, acknowledgement of past efforts, inspirational activists, leaders, knowledge of authors from the past and present, black & POC business owners, even celebrities, achieving greatness and being a role model for all generations and future generations to come.

JOIN US!