May 26 – June 7, 2020
These are historical moments in our lifetime.
I started this blog to have a record of the Corona virus pandemic, a viral threat that has taken the lives of many people, majority of whom, here in the US, were members of minority and immigrant groups living in economically-depressed areas. Every day I hear in the news the various statistics and concerns that people of color are suffering disproportionately. Not only health-wise but also economically with folks losing their jobs, families worried about not being able to pay their rents or mortgages, worried about the next meal. Lines are forming blocks upon blocks along food banks, most of whom are members of the minority.
A few days before the shelter-in-place ordinance, March 13 – a young African-American woman in Louisville, KY was shot 8 times in her own home by police responding to a drug tip. Her name was Breona Taylor. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/11/family-seeks-answers-fatal-police-shooting-louisville-woman-her-apartment/
The news was not widely circulated because of CoVid19 but her family refused to stay silent. Be the judge of the events. How can someone sleeping in her own bedroom be shot by the police who just barged in to her apartment without any warrants or notice?
Then on Mother’s Day, an African-American man named George Floyd died while in police custody in Minneapolis. Fortunately, the events leading to his death were recorded and happened in broad daylight. I must admit, I have been hearing about his death but haven’t really paid attention much because there were so many things going on and I have not been watching television at all. However, the news kept on popping up in the Internet and social media that I finally decided to pay attention and watch the video. It broke my heart. How can a fellow human being be degraded in such a manner for a measly $20? How can the police officers not heed his pleas of not being able to breathe? How can those same officers be so callous despite pleas from bystanders to allow him to breathe? What have we become as a society?
Thankfully, I was not the only one enraged by the injustice. People started coming out in the streets to protest the brutality, the indignity, the obvious racism associated with George Floyd’s death. It could be anyone of us. We are all George Floyd. We are all Breona Taylor. We are all Ahmaud Arbery. We are all human beings. We are all the same no matter the color of our skin.
We can’t be silent anymore. There is a better future if we all exercise our collective rights for meaningful changes.
For those of you who would like some help in educating yourselves on the subject of racism and inequality, here are some suggestions I have:
- Watch the documentary, 13th by filmmaker Ava DuVernay as she explores the history of racial inequality in the US, highlighting on the fact that US prisons are disproportionately populated by African-Americans.
- Watch the movie, Just Mercy, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton based on a true story of Walter McMillan, wrongly accused of murder and in death row, and with the help of his defense attorney, Bryan Stevenson, appeals his conviction. The movie is based on the book of the same title by Bryan Stevenson.
- Read books on racism. Below is a recommended list by Crooked Media.
In order for us to progress as a society, we have to reimagine the way our tax monies are deployed. Did you know that in the US, funding for policing is a whooping $115 billion?!? That’s BILLION.
“The CoVid19 economic crisis has led cities and states to make drastic cuts to education, youth programs, arts and culture, parks, libraries, housing services and more. But police budgets have grown or gone largely untouched.” – The Guardian, June 7, 2020
Do we have that many criminals in this country for the police to deserve such a large budget versus social programs? How many people have died of CoVid-19 vs. crime recently? Maybe some of you would argue that we want to be protected from terrorists. My question to you is, how many of us in our communities here in the US have been killed by terrorists? Compare that with the number of people shot by the police or some mentally-ill person or ran over by a car?
If you ask me, if it took 4 police officers in 2 squad cars to attend to a petty crime of $20 counterfeit bill in Minneapolis, that means that they don’t really have a lot to do.
It is now time for us to demand to put more funding towards community-based projects instead of increased policing. It is time to defund the police. The major impact of mass incarceration is the breakdown of the family unit in most communities of color in the United States. Thus, deliberate efforts and more emphasis towards education, healthcare, mental health and housing in every community especially in depressed areas will help alleviate the cycle of poverty, hopelessness and homelessness. If one thinks about it, if these social programs are readily available and free or at bare minimum, subsidized, in each and every community, would these young men and women rather sell drugs, get drunk, be involved in burglary or commit petty crimes? If their fathers, mothers, and siblings are around instead of in jail, would the outcome be different?
The US government has the money to fund these programs. Right now, these resources are just not being allocated in the right buckets because of the powerful lobby groups with vested interests to maintain the status quo. By the way, have you heard of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)? If you haven’t, time to check them out.
We can’t be silent anymore. We need to reimagine a different future where everyone of us matter.
In the meantime, let’s continue the fight for reform not just via the ballot boxes but out on the streets. Our voices need be heard – loudly.
BLACK LIVES MATTER.
