How many more hashtags before Black lives really matter?

Alton Sterling
Alton Sterling (Facebook)

#TrayvonMartin #JordanDavis #SandraBland #MikeBrown #EricGarner #SeanBell #RekiaBoyd #LaquanMcDonald #JohnCrawford #TamirRice #FreddieGray #KimaniGray #AiyanaStanleyJones #AltonSterling and the list goes on. These are just some of the Black lives that were taken either by or because of cops, or other racist individuals. Sadly enough, most of these lives were taken by the police, the very people who are sworn in to serve and protect us.


A few weeks ago we were all praising Jesse Williams for his very necessary and unapologetic speech at the BET Awards. Fast-forward to now, and we are once again outraged about the death of another person of color. Alton Sterling was selling CDs outside his regular spot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when he was shot by police officers. Once again, the painful video of his brutal killing has been viewed by the world, and Black lives still don’t seem to matter to some people.


I’m not sure how many more videos I can promise myself not to watch, only to end up watching and in tears after witnessing a human being slaughtered like an animal for no justifiable reason. This is a very painful reality for me, not only as a woman of color, but as a Black person in general. I always say that I’d like to have a son someday, how in the world will I protect him from life?

The media is so quick to pull up rap sheets for these victims, as if their past justifies the executions they faced. I don’t personally have a solution to the problem, but I pray that someday, someone will. I don’t think the answer is in marching and protesting necessarily, but I commend those who go to the front line and fight for the ones we’ve lost, and the ones we’re trying not to lose in the future.


My father is a Black man, as are my brothers, cousins, uncles, nephews, significant other and friends. Any of them can easily become the next hashtag, and there’s not much I can do to stop that. The best I can do is make sure they aren’t being a part of the problem, make sure they aren’t doing anything to make a cop think they deserve to die. In some cases, being Black seemed to have been enough for that, that’s the scariest part of it all. I just have to pray that times get better before they get worse. How many more hashtags will we have to remember before Black lives really start to matter?

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