As we close the chapter to the year 2020, it's important to remember the unjustifiable killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd leading to the re-insurgency of the Black Lives Matter Movement in our Country. In Portland, we saw over 200 days of protesting and the unwelcomed federal agents that came into our city. And as we go into 2021 it’s important to remember that the fight isn’t over.
February of 2020, Ahmaud Abrery, a black man in Georgia was targeted while going on a run around his neighborhood. Two white residents of the neighborhood chased him down and killed him for looking like a suspect who had reportedly broken into houses in the community.
In March of 2020, Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville police while inside of her home. That night officers dressed in plain clothes and were executing a warrant to search the house after having reports of her ex-boyfriend storing narcotics in her house. Current legislation is being approved to not allow officers to enter homes without knocking first and announcing themselves due to the circumstances surrounding this case. Breonna’s current boyfriend, Kenneth Walker thinking it was Breonna's ex boyfriend breaking into the house fired a shot in the direction towards the door. Thirty-two shots were fired that night with five of those bullets striking and killing Breonna Taylor.
The tipping point for many people in the US was the killing of 46 year old George Floyd. On May 25th, 2020, George Floyd’s killing was caught on camera by a bystander and the video quickly caught the eye of the public. In the video you see Minneapolis police officer, Derek Charvin, kneeling on Floyd’s neck for approximately 8 minutes and 46 seconds as other officers stood by watching Floyd yell for his mom and repeated the words “I can't breathe''
The killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd was the tipping point that re-sparked the Black Lives Matter Movement. All over our country we saw people of all races, genders, and ages come together and take to the streets to seek justice. The feeling you get when you see all these people come together to fight against police brutality, systematic racism, and gather in support of Black Lives Matter is the most empowering and inspirational feeling in the world. From my perspective as a black youth in America it feels like a home, a safe place where you know everyone there has your back no matter what. I feel like for the first time in my life, even without speaking, that my voice matters and I'm being heard. I could look to the left and right of me and see a whole bunch of amazing people, people chanting, playing music, holding signs, dancing, playing basketball, and even just being there together in that moment to fight for change.
In Portland, we saw over 100 days protested down at the Justice Center and overall 200+ days protesting across the city. In June, we saw 10,000 people march across the Morrison bridge and laid down for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in solidarity to the time George Floyd spent on the ground with the officers knee on his neck. In July, Donald Trump and his administration believed city leaders and law enforcement failed to stop weeks of political unrest. Donald Trump took to Twitter saying “ their leadership has, for months, lost control of their anarchists and agitators, we must protect federal property, AND OUR PEOPLE”. He then sent over 100 federal agents to Portland. Federal agents were downtown to protect the federal buildings, but they abused their power, which led to many injuries to protestors and what some may call “war zones” at the Justice Center.
As we go into 2021, it is important to remember that there is still so much to fight for. Police brutality and unjustifiable killings of black people in our country still happen every single day. The same people who were posting black screens on Instagram and showing up to events in the summer should still be out protesting and continuing to educate themselves and others. The summer spark of going out to protests and posting black screens on June 2nd wasn’t a trend. We are still fighting and demanding change in our Country. There's also lots that need to be changed and it won’t just magically happen unless we continue to hit these streets demanding Justice and Equity. We need to hold not only the police but our government accountable for their actions. Just because it's a new year doesn't mean everything we fought for will disappear, there's still change that needs to happen within our country, and BLACK LIVES STILL Matter.