Yesterday I noticed the black pictures being posted on Instagram and Facebook as a sign of solidarity with black people and the still ongoing racism towards them. I had noticed a couple of posts in the morning, however, I was unable to post at that time due to having some commitments and having to run around the house getting ready as I do. I left at about 12.20 pm, and got back, and sat down to check my social media at about 3 pm. When I opened Instagram, my entire feed was mostly black pictures posted by all the wonderful people I follow (very few seemed to had not received the memo but hopefully, they were there in spirit). As I was scrolling through the feed and seeing all this love, compassion and camaraderie I started tearing up. It was so overwhelming in a positive way. It just humbled me to see how we are not letting this stand anymore.
It is horrifying, heartbreaking, infuriating, and completely unbelievable that we are halfway through 2020 and racism still exists and has been allowed to endure. More so, that it endures through the very bodies which are meant to protect us. To those who say racism does not exist anymore, you are wrong. If it is not apparent, it is institutionalised. Case in point, George Floyd, Freddie Gray, Dominique White, Terence Crutcher and unfortunately many others:https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/06/02/world/social-issues-world/us-protesters-decry-police-treatment-blacks/#.XteEZrfTVaw. To those who say ‘I think it is exaggerated how the protests are happening in America’, I think it was bound to happen. Before you go and think ‘omg she thinks violence is the answer’, what I mean by this is that as with any crisis there are those who sadly take advantage of the chaos and use it for their personal gains-thus, bound to happen. We have seen this behaviour at the start of the lockdown, where some people were trying to take advantage of the uncertainty and make money off of creating fake fitness gear websites when in fact they would charge about £100 for a £2 sports bra. Now we are seeing it in the US during the black lives matter protests where some people just want a 70 inch TV and they are taking it. Nothing to do with the actual safe protests. Furthermore, please do not be fooled, it also seems that those black people who are causing tension in the streets along with others, and claim to be protestors are in fact 'planted' by other opposing bodies and have nothing to do with the actual safe protesting https://www.instagram.com/tv/CA4YRiuHxAM/?igshid=1x1nc7w88lbm9. It is unfortunate that I am not surprised…
Nevertheless, the actual protests were also a long time coming. Realistically, how many times can someone put up with the disgrace and mistreatment over, and over, and over again? These are black people’s lives, our friends, our neighbours, our family, which have been literally dragged through the mud for over 100, near on 200 years since the abolition of slavery in the western world. An act which clearly could be used as tissue paper because that’s how some people treat it. This injustice cannot stand anymore. No one should have the right to decide when and how a person dies. Moreover, no one should have the right to take away a life because of their skin colour. That is pure madness. I wish I was in America right now to stand in the streets with you black people, and say stop it! This is enough.
I think we can all agree that 2020 so far has been the armageddon of the decade. Nevertheless, in all this chaos and madness, I personally believe some great changes are going to come into play. This is because black people and their lives matter and they will not take this anymore. This is because there are beautiful, caring and amazing, white, Hispanic, Asian, people like on my Instagram feed and those protesting in the streets who do not want to put up with this tyranny anymore. This is because I, and many others, do not want the colour of their skin (white) to be associated with racist monsters, and I am sick and tired of seeing black people disgraced and killed because of the colour of their skin. It's enough. This needs to end, there needs to be change. 2020 is a mess, but let’s change that into something better. The only way is up. #blacklivesmatter