Photo Taken by BSU
Growing up, my hero was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I learned about the civil rights movement and his impact during the 1950s and 60s. After learning a little about him I wanted to know more, so I wrote a research paper on Dr. King and Malcolm X.
These two held completely different philosophies on how to change America. Dr. King was a man who wanted to make a change but in a peaceful way. Malcolm X, in contrast, followed the philosophy of “by any means necessary.”
What truly got me passionate about the Black Lives Matter Movement, was my growing awareness of police brutality in America. Police brutality made me feel frustrated and I felt the need to stand up.
The background of America is based on making the white man successful. I am here to say I do not stand for it and demand equality. There have been too many occurrences where a white police officer kills an African-American man or woman, and no punishment is seen for them. The recent conviction in Chicago show that police officers sometimes have no justification to kill. These cops abuse their power, and absolutely nothing happens to them. This is because America was built on treating African-Americans like they are not human.
This is why I stand up for the African-American community and why I support Black Lives Matter.
Like I said, I have always stood with the African-American community because I have always believed that they deserve more then what they get from America. The moment in my life where I had to speak up was the death of Eric Garner. A black man selling cigarettes to make extra money for his family, was then choked to death by a police officer. I remember thinking to myself how much force that officer had to put upon that man to choke him so long and hard he could not breathe anymore. I was furious with America. This also completely changed my view of police officers in America.
When Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem in front of the country on national television, I was observing everyone’s reaction. When I noticed a lot of white people were boycotting the NFL and said Kaepernick was a being disrespectful, I stepped back and tried to inform people: he is protesting as peaceful as possible. I continue to stand up for Kaepernick and preach to this country that police brutality is not okay, and that it is a huge problem in this country. That is the reason he kneels; too many innocent black men and women are being murdered. The fact people say he is being disrespectful is disgusting to me. I hear veterans say they went to war for his right to speak freely, but then get mad when he protests as peacefully as possible.
Last year, I marched with Cabrini’s Black Student Union. The march was around the campus of Cabrini University and it was an effort to end white supremacy. This march gave me that chance to stand up for the BLM Movement. I got to speak up for something I strongly believe in. I marched around campus with BSU, and wore all black to show my support with BSU. Everyone who marched on campus wore all black to stand up to racism. I participated in this march to show that I will stand up to racism of any kind, as well as continue to be an activist for the BLM movement. We will not grow as a country if we do not stand up to racism. That is why I support BLM, because if I believe that the African-American community deserve more, and they deserve my support.
Photo Taken by BSU
