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BLM-Verdict

The verdict in the murder of George Floyd – guilty on all three charges – is heralded as a step toward racial justice and a rare rebuke of police violence. Former Minneapolis police offer Derek Chauvin faces decades in prison for pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, a horrific crime brought to light by teenager Darnella Frazier's video – and sparking massive Black Lives Matter protests across the nation and beyond. But just as the verdict was being celebrated, Black teenager Ma'Khia Bryant was shot and killed by police in Ohio. (Read the Washington Post story here.) Is real change possible? [Photo credits: Chandan Khanna; Reuters/Washington Post]

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Responses to this Challenge

Apr 21
poetry challenge: BLM-Verdict

The boy on the porch step

Sitting there
on the porch step,
gazing down,
worried 
or sad, but it is hard to tell,
the face without hope,
the lonely boy, sitting on the steps,
his eyes vacant,
empty,
like maybe he once had hope,
once believed in a better future,
but not now,
not anymore.
He just stays 
sitting there 
on the porch step.
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Posted: 04.21.21
Apr 21
poetry challenge: BLM-Verdict

We Need To Change

it's not right
what is going on in 
our world
the way 
the police can 
get away with killing someone
it is not right
everyone should have 
an equal chance at 
living their lives 

people shouldn't be 
scared to go to 
the grocery store
or go to 
the park

people are afraid of
the police
when they are literally there
to protect us 
but now it seems
they are doing the opposite of 
protecting us

our world needs to change 
we need to change 
we need to change 
how we think
how we act
how we do

racism should
never have been a thing
but it is
and all we can do 
is stop it 
we need to 
change people's mindsets 
and therefore 
save our world from becoming 
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Posted: 04.21.21
Apr 21
opinion challenge: BLM-Verdict

Ma'Khia

For a few moments last evening, I sat back with relief. 
Finally, the man who murdered George Floyd was behind bars. 

Then, just as I thought we might enter an era of reform and accountability, a 16-year-old girl was shot by police in Ohio.
A girl who had called the police because she was being abused within the walls of her foster home. 

Tell me why, when I reach my eighteenth birthday, I should pay taxes to support the police. 
When all this pain, all this distrust, is because of law enforcement systems. 

Tell me why a young woman was murdered for protecting herself. 
Tell me why a uniformed officer shot her for being brave enough to say, "I need help." 

Tell me why girls in similar situations aren't going to feel silenced, rather than supported now that they've seen what happens to girls who speak out. 
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Posted: 04.21.21