time for change

I have been really upset about current events of late. Particularly concerning all these cases including excessive police force, and racism. Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Darrien Hunt, Trayvon Martin, and many many more. The case that really sent me over the edge was Eric Garner, who was put in a chokehold after resisting arrest and consequently died. The entire thing was caught on tape and can be found on youtube. It is appalling. The medical examiner ruled it death by homicide, yet when it was presented to a grand jury the officer responsible was not even indicted. WHAT?! When I learned about all of this I was absolutely sickened. It kept eating away at me and finally I just could not take it anymore. The America I believe in doesn't let anyone, including/especially police officers, kill people for no warranted reason and get away with it. Black or white or purple, all human beings are just that: human beings.

Before the Eric Garner case I felt like I could contribute by fighting for body cameras for all police officers, and I felt like that would be a positive change. But now?? After Eric Garner was killed ON TAPE and nothing was done about it, I was left with a hopeless feeling. Hopeless about the case. Hopeless about justice. Hopeless about racism. Hopeless about law enforcement. And hopeless about the future of our country. And I just felt like I personally couldn't do anything to help this cause that I feel so strongly about.

I made a comment to Josh how I wished I lived somewhere like New York so I could at least participate in a peaceful protest. He said "You don't have to live in New York to protest. You can live anywhere. You just go and you just protest." Which got me thinking... Social media can reach almost everyone these days. So I decided to do an online protest. I'm inviting everyone else who would like to make a change or a difference to join me. I think that even small things can make little ripple effects, so why not take a stand?!

#onlineprotest

I hope that through different investigations, at least some of these cases will finally result in justice. And hopefully through all the peaceful protests and different news stories, etc, something positive can come out of this. It is obvious that something needs to be done about this problem, and it's time for things to change. We cannot continue to let this happen. As a friend reminded me, Bob Dylan said:  "How many times can a man turn his head, and pretend that he just doesn't see?"