Love & Protest

By: Melissa Henderson

The tip of the iceberg was the murder of George Floyd. The video circulated the internet less than 24 hours of Mr. Floyd’s death. “I can’t breath” were his last words. Those words were a call to the Black community: Enough is enough. The #BlackLivesMatter movement was once again reignited, with new participants, Millennials, Gen-Zers, and allies from across the globe took to the streets and social media in solidarity. Some were having race relations conversations in private, while some took to the streets to let out their anger. When we say, “we are tired,” that comes with over 400 years of our ancestors pain. My personal revolution was also getting louder. I took to the streets of Harlem, marching, and protesting with my Black sisters. My brother’s racial profiling incident a few months ago in March made me angry. And as he made the headlines of many news sources from across the country, I read every article in utter disgust. How could the police be so cruel? The truth is, police brutality and violence are triggering to me, and hopefully to you. When Mr. Floyd’s death flooded my timeline, I could barely watch it, yet I was forced to see it because it was all over social media. I was forced to be traumatized once again by my people’s pain. Which cascades and reminds me of the subtle racism I was forced to also experience firsthand. My heartache every time I was judged from the color of my skin - from the white waiter passing the bill directly to a white colleague ( even though I was paying the bill) during a business lunch.

Of course, there are countless incidents where me and my friends have experienced racism abroad, these memories never die. Today, I just become so desensitized to it and have deleted those memories from my mind. However, no matter how much we try to erase the past, it'll still keep coming back like a cold sore on your lip. That's why we choose to remember the good times. “I remember that time when....” *sigh* We are tired. And when Black people are tired, it comes from a different level of grief. It took a pandemic, high unemployment rates, “Karen,” and few unique planetary alignments for the entire world to wake up and address the ugly truth about racism. It has plagued our community for far too long. But this “ideology” has fucked with the wrong generation. We want to be seen. We want to be heard. No more racist leaders. No more racist cops. No more racist school systems and public health programs. It’s time to re-write history by demanding compassion, respect, and reparations.

#BLM Protest Los Angeles - June 2020

By: Bellamy Brewster