You may hear some people say Black Lives Matter and you may hear others argue that All Lives Matter. Of course, all lives matter but it is 2016 and African Americans are still getting treated unfairly. There has been plenty of events involving police officers killing African Americans without any valid reason and without justice for the victim and their families. These events caused the movement “Black Lives Matter.” In order to understand the movement, I will trace back to some events that have happened to the following victims Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown.
The earliest event that took place within the last five years was the killing of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin was seventeen years old when he was killed. According to CNN and other news articles, George Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch captain in Florida. The night of February 26, 2012 Zimmerman made a call to 911 reporting “a suspicious person” in the neighborhood. CNN states that Zimmerman was instructed not to get out of his vehicle or not to approach the person. Zimmerman did not follow his commands and moments later neighbors reported hearing gunfire. Zimmerman had shot and killed an unarmed teenager and took his life. However, the police department homicide detective suggested Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter because he failed to identify himself as a concerned citizen or a neighborhood watch personnel on two occasions that night. CNN reports that the Martin family has been through so much to get justice for their son but George Zimmerman was found not guilty.
On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, another black unarmed man, was killed by a police officer. In an article written by AL Baker, J. David Goodman, and Benjamin Mueller in the New York Times, reports Eric Garner’s death. They explained that Eric Garner, who was forty-three years old, six feet and two inches, and three hundred and ninety five pounds, was known for selling untaxed cigarettes. Eric Garner had been in an altercation with two officers that approached him harassing him when he wasn’t doing anything wrong. He refused to get detained and the police let him off with a warning. After that altercation, a couple weeks later one of those cops, Justin Damico, returned with a different partner, Daniel Pantaleo. They began to harass Garner, slamming him down on the concrete and putting him into a chokehold. Garner pled eleven times for breath by saying “I can’t breathe.” Bystanders repeatedly told the officer to “Let Up,” and “You got him already.” Those were Garner’s final words before he took his final breath. Throughout this whole confrontation, Garner’s friend recorded it. He was told by officers to delete the video but he didn’t follow their commands. Garner’s friend made the video go viral. Garner was laying on the sidewalk, handcuffed and dead, without any immediate attention by paramedics. The first police report on his death failed to report the main detail: that the police officer had wrapped his arm around Garner. On December 3, 2014, the grand jury decided not to indict Officer Pantaleo for the killing of Eric Garner. Eric Garner’s, who had left children behind, did not receive justice; just like the Trayvon Martin case.
Complementary to these incidents, another incident occurred August 9, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. According to Emily Brown in USA Today, Michael Brown, 18, and a friend was walking down the street when they were stopped and harassed by a police officer, Darren Wilson. Wilson claimed Brown was rustling with him and attempted to reach for his gun and that’s when he opened fire killing Brown. According to New York Times, the following day a candle light was held for Brown and protesters took over the streets near the crime scene chanting, “No justice, no peace.” Not too long after, police officers appeared in riot gear carrying rifles and shields. Emily Brown points out that Michael Browns attorney, Benjamin Crump, stated the grand jury declined Wilson to indict him for firing six shots that killed Michael Brown. After their decision, protesters started another riot near the police station. Ferguson was getting destroyed, cop cars and stores were set on fire. Michael Brown’s parents didn’t receive justice, just like Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner. According to Emily Brown in USA Today, hundreds of protesters marched through many cities in California to protest grand jury decisions not to indict white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men – Martin, Brown, and Garner.
According to New York Times, Garner’s death was a start of a succession of police killings that caught the nation’s attention and ignited debates over race and law enforcement. Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown are the main shootings that started the movement by protestors but weren’t the last. It’s a problem because it’s not happening in only one state, it is happening in multiple states and occurs often. Not only are blacks being killed by guns, they are losing their lives in police custody! Black citizens are being killed by police and don’t get justice for their death like they deserve.
The Black Lives Matter movement started an organization through the Sentencing Project called Eliminating Racial Inequity in the Criminal Justice System. The Sentencing Project is a national non-profit organization engaged in research and advocacy on criminal justice issues. The Black Lives Matter movement stated the saying “Black Lives Matter” has been a cry by our citizens in the light of evidence that the criminal justice system is failing to uphold this basic truth. The criminal justice system’s high percentage of contact with people of color is a major cause of African Americans’ excessive rate of fatal police encounters. The Black Lives Matter movement encourages young African American males and females to change their generation and doing positive things. The Black Lives Matter also fight for black’s rights and to eliminate racial inequality.
In 2015, there were 278 African Americans that were killed by police officers and within the first 7 months of 2016 there has been 173 American Americans killed by police officers. No officers got charg
ed for anything in 2015. So when people say black lives matter, it is not because they're selfish, they know all lives matter. Nobody deserves to be unarmed, shot, and killed with no justice. It is because black lives need to be heard, respected, and valued like everyone else in this society.
