Dear John,
Black men have been under attack for hundreds of years in this country. In the recent words of Will Smith, racism is not getting worse, it’s just being filmed.
Far too many times we have had to come together to have this very same conversation. The very same type of rallies. There is nothing I can say that will erase the pain. The terror. The anger. The fear created by police violence on Black people. This is not a time for silence for anyone. If you can’t speak out about this injustice, it’s a problem.
There has been a systematic plan to eradicate and exterminate Black men across this country. It started with slavery, trying to make sure we were not educated, and trying to stop us from reproducing. Then it became about separation and segregation. Then, when that didn’t work, it became mass incarceration.
That did a number on us, but nothing has been more damning than free-for-all law enforcement killing Black men and women for decades.
We are at a pivotal and crucial point as a Black community and if this doesn’t bring us together, nothing will.
This week, I stood in front of City Hall to say that, when the police kill an unarmed Black man in the streets like an animal, they need to be charged, convicted and incarcerated. I am glad to see that each officer involved in the death George Floyd has been charged, but more must be done.
We must see the same results in the unprovoked killings of all Black people. Training is imperative and diversity is imperative, but so are convictions for all of these deaths at the hands of law enforcement. That is justice.
We will continue to protest, speak out and bring attention to the injustices that exist until proper consequences are out in place. We are not condoning violence or the destruction of property, but we are saying that we won’t tolerate another Black death at the hands of criminal behavior by law enforcement.
I know we are angry. I know we are hurt. I know we feel helpless and hopeless each time this happens. Let’s come together as a community and push the policies that make the change we need to see. Let’s not let the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Mario Woods, Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Ronell Diangelo, and many others, be in vain. We owe it to their families, and more importantly to our community, to create tangible change and real justice by holding these officers accountable in order to end this attack on our Black men.
Thank you,
Shamann Walton
