On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was senselessly killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the hands of the Minneapolis police force. Officer Derek Chauvin held his knee at Floyd’s neck for close to nine harrowing minutes. During that time, Floyd uttered the phrase that rang the same anger and sadness that Eric Garner’s death brought in 2014, I can’t breathe.
Police brutality has been an incredibly concerning issue for the Black community. In a country where systematic racism is embedded into virtually every aspect of a Black American’s life, it is the daily threat this community faces from the ones meant to serve and protect that echo the loudest. George Floyd’s name will not be forgotten, yet it is another in a long list of names that suffered the same tragic end. Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, Laquan McDonald, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice are just a handful of the names that lost their lives in police custody.
Racism is a disease that continues to reverberate across the world. For America, police brutality is the latest way this plight rears its ugly head. It may not be as overt as 246 years of slavery, 99 years of Jim Crow laws, but racism exists in our economy, in our housing, in our prison–industrial complex and yes, in our police force in strong ways. Even in a year where the coronavirus uprooted the lives of people across the world, the virus particularly fared worse for communities of color, areas of the country which naturally found it harder to find access to fair and affordable healthcare.
Today, the country has responded to the death of George Floyd in a strong way. Protests around the country quickly have become the story. Tensions between the people and the police continue to escalate. Communities come together to peacefully protest, yet find themselves continually undermined, by both the officers trying to quell it and third parties that use these protests to incite chaos. The world is a mess and it might seem like there’s not much an individual can do to help, but there is.
To stand in solidarity, we encourage you to check this link from Black Lives Matter, which will lead you to multiple avenues to help. Whether you sign petitions, text, or call, donate, or protest yourselves, you can find resources all of it here.
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co
Myself, The Farooqi Brothers, and our entire team want to stand with those doing anything to help spread awareness against racism and police brutality in our society. If you have the platform to speak, speak. If you have the ability to protest, protest. If you have the means to donate, donate. Find ways to make your voice heard in unison with your brothers & sisters to spark the change that is desperately needed now. #BlackLivesMatter
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