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Being a black woman, I am very afraid. I am afraid that in my future I will never get to see an unjustifiable killing by a police officer, with the officer behind bars. I am afraid that fifteen years from now, I will have to tell my children to be afraid of the people who are paid to protect you. I am afraid that black lives will never matter.

On July 13, 2013, that was the day I understood the injustices that African-Americans face. I was sitting at the hair salon, preparing for my dads union with his wife. Being 13 I was aware of racism and some of the social problems that I faced as an African-American. I knew that we were once slaves, then we were freed by Abraham Lincoln and that the Civil Rights movement was supposed to make us equal. What I did not know is that 7 years later, I would understand that we are not really free and are not really equal.

While I was preparing to finally accept my new dads new life with his wife, most Americans across the world were awaiting to accept the verdict of murder. You may not remember the day, but do you recall the name? His name was Trayvon Martin, and his murderer is George Zimmerman.

Now this was not a killing by a police officer, but this is one of the first cases that started the trail of injustice for African-American men and women. A year later from a jury finding Zimmerman not guilty after shooting unarmed Trayvon, Eric Garner let out his last words of I cant breathe as a police officer holds him in a choke hold. Then less than a month later, people in Ferguson protested for Michael Brown and many others unarmed and murdered by the police. Five years later Garners killer, Daniel Pantaleo, was never charged or convicted, just stripped of his badge and commission. Darren Wilson, the officer who killed Brown, was exonerated.

The trend of this type of injustice continued for years after these cases and even decades before these cases. I hope we have not forgotten the verdict of Rodney King caused the LA riots. In the year 2020 it was the killing of George Floyd and the acquittal of Breonna Taylor when I learned to fear injustice. Across everyones screens we watched Floyd lose his last breath, under the knee of a police officer. His killers were not arrested or charged until riots and protests waved across America. We saw Breonnas family mourn her death after wrongfully being killed in a raid.

With all these chants of Black lives matter! No Justice No Peace! and the repeated stress that the police are using excessive force we have yet to see justice for any of these stolen lives. You would think the system could see the unfair treatment of the African-American community, but yet no convictions. I feel the fear of injustice flash before me every time I see a badge and flashing lights. We dont deserve to be afraid anymore, we deserve to be free.

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COLUMN: The Fear of Injustice The Parthenon - MU The Parthenon

30 September 2020, 10:40 | Updated: 30 September 2020, 10:44

There are a number of great films and documentaries to watch this Black History Month.

October marks Black History Month in the UK, which celebrates the history, achievements and contributions of black people in this country and around the world.

While events and celebrations may look a little different this year due to the pandemic, there are plenty of things you can do to learn more about important black history that was not taught in schools.

And Netflix and Amazon Prime have a range of films and documentaries which deal with issues of black rights and racial struggles.

Check out our list of films to watch this Black History Month.

This documentary explores the intersection of race, justice and mass incarceration in the United States.

It is titled after the thirteenth amendment of the Constitution which abolished slavery in the US and discusses the history of race relations.

This film tells the story of black soldiers who fought for their country in the Vietnam war, while African Americans were being oppressed at home in the US.

Read More: Black Lives Matter: How you can support the anti-racism movement through charities, organisations, books and TV

When They See Us is a series which tells the real life story of the Central Park Five, a group of five teenage boys who were wrongfully convicted in a 1989 sexual assault case.

It looks at the flawed criminal justice system and the way these boys were unfairly treated as young black boys.

This is an American documentary television series that premiered in 2018 on Paramount Network.

The six-episode series tells the story of the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, and follows the rise of Black Lives Matter movement.

This film is a comedy, but it follows the racial tensions at a predominantly white Ivy League college in America and is told from the perspective of several black students.

Directed by Raoul Peck, this documentary looks back at black history and connects the Civil Rights movement to #BlackLivesMatter.

The synopsis reads: "It questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond."

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson follows the life of the trans activist Marsha P. Johnson who was a powerful figure in the gay liberation movement.

It uses old interviews with Marsha, and new interviews with family, friends and fellow activists.

This outlines the riots in LA in 1992, which were sparked by the beating of motorist Rodney King by police officers.

Paris is Burning was filmed in the 1980s and explores the ballroom scene in New York City, following the Black performers who were part of it.

Interviews with drag queens and ball contestants open conversations around gender, race, class, and sexuality in their communities.

This four-hour series sees Henry Louis Gates, Jr. embark on a deeply personal journey through the last fifty years of African American history.

This documentary follows the recent evolution of the BLM movement through interviews with local activists, protestors and scholars.

Read the rest here:
Black History Month 2020: Powerful films and documentaries to stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime - Heart

Too often, stories of Black women who have been abused by the systemic racism in our country go ignored, not only by the majority, but by our Black male counterparts.

As a young black woman and first generation American, I have dealt with the burdens of racial injustice, sexism, colorism and nationalism.

Earlier this year, Officer Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis police force, knelt on George Floyds neck, preventing him from breathing and killing him. This murder resulted in outrage, and a wave of protests all around the country. It unearthed years of trauma and pain experienced by the Black community, not only in the United States but all around the world.

However, two months before Floyds death, on March 13, 2020, a young Black woman was shot and killed by police officers while sleeping in her apartment. Breonna Taylors death received little to no coverage until after George Floyds death received worldwide recognition.

Taylor became a martyr and yet another victim of police brutality who did not receive proper justice.

A grand jury indicted officer Brett Hanksion on three separate counts of first-degree wanton endangerment as he put the lives of Taylors neighbors in danger by firing shots that reached their apartments.

On Sep 15, 2020 Taylors family received $12 million in a wrongful death settlement that included a host of police reforms. In the settlement, the city agreed to an incentive to hire officers who live in the areas in which they wish to serve, and required more review for search warrants among many other changes.

Still none of the officers involved with Taylors death were charged with her death. Protests have continued to surge in response to this verdict as the justice system placed property over Taylors personhood.

These protests have resulted in a large cultural shift, consequently bringing to the forefront the importance of inclusivity and allyship in the Black community. They promote conversations about what we can do to create equality, equity and understanding in a tumultuous, and often hurtful society.

As Taylors story reached the media there were stark differences in how the public received her story versus Floyds.

Taylor was made out to be a caricature, to sell products, and memified. This showed the lack of value for the personhood of Black women in America.

Tiktok users co-opted a cry for justice Arrest the Killers of Breonna Taylor into a TikTok trend on the social media website. The meme is usually preceded by a lead up completely unrelated to police brutality and ends with Arrest the Killers of Breonna Taylor.

This reception, dissemination and performative activism associated with Taylors story is indicative of the erasure of Black womens intersectional experiences and reflective of the stories of so many cis and trans black women who have been harmed by the police and by their own community.

Since the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement, Black women have been champions of change.

The BLM movement was created in 2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the Florida man who murdered 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

As we protect and act as mothers of our community, I often wonder who will stand on the front lines and fight for us.

The idea of the strong Black women or the superwoman schema explains the internal conflict experienced by many Black women. They are expected to be emotionless, strong, superwomen, and to act as a voice for their people.

Black women have fought for the lives of Black men to be valued and respected, yet when the lives of Black women enter the conversation, the narrative transforms.

19-year-old Oluwatoyin Salau was sexually assaulted and murdered by Black male Aaron Glee Jr. Glee offered Salua a ride and a place to stay following a protest for Floyd.

When her story reached the media, people, specifically Black men, victim-blamed her. Questions like Why would she go with him? or She owed him appeared on Twitter threads about her.

Iyanna Dior, a trans woman, was beaten brutally by a group of 20-30 Black men at a gas station. Transphobia bled into all of the conversations concerning the brutal attack.

A 15 second video from the Long Island Herald captured Wynta Amor, a seven year old black girl chanting Black Lives Matter. The video of Amor and many other young black girls being propped up as activists went viral on all social media websites. There is no age limit to carrying the burden of your community and country as a Black girl in America.

Black women are carrying the weight of validating the worth of their lives not only as a Black person but as women.

The overwhelming sentiment of not being able to feel that your experience is real or validated has and will continue to contribute to trauma and the adultification of young Black girls who are often forced to grow up too fast.

Blackness and womanhood are intersectional identities that cannot be separated from one another. Black women exist at the crossroads of institutional racism and institutional sexism.

If we erase that fact that Black women experience multiple different marginalized identities, we are simultaneously invalidating them as people and their experiences.

So many stereotypes have contributed to the way that the world relates to Black women.

The Mammy stereotype began with black enslaved women who were expected to be obedient and loyal despite experiencing an insurmountable amount of pain.

The hypersexualization of Black women began when enslaved women were raped.

The angry Black women stereotype invalidates the anger and pain experienced as a result of the injustices they face as a community.

It is important that we see Black women not as warriors for the cause or victims but simply as people. People with depth, purpose and personality.

When I look at pictures of Breonna Taylor, Oluwatoyin Salau, Sandra Bland, Iyanna Dior, Elanor Bumper, Alberta Spruill and so many more Black women failed by the system, I see a reflection of myself.

I see people who were valuable before death and not because of death. These Black women were and are activists, EMT workers, mothers, sisters and friends.

Black women deserve better. They deserve justice while they are living and breathing and they deserve validation when the systems in place to protect them fail them.

This is a painful time for so many people around the world. It is like a period of mourning that will never end until we receive proper justice.

In our process of healing, we lean on our allies and each other. We must educate and love one another, challenge our beliefs, and continue the quest of knowledge. We must recognize how our different intersections impact our experiences.

The process of education and understanding continues as long as we exist on this earth.

Reporter Oreoluwa Ojewuyican be reached at [emailprotected] or on twitter @odojewuyi.

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Opinion: 'The Most Disrespected Person in America is the Black Woman' - Daily Egyptian

MASON, Ohio From Black Lives Matter marches to the pandemic, 2020 has been a year for the books. So much so, Mason High Schooler Mariah Norman hopes this years history will change in textbooks, too.

I think that this summer is definitely one that will be in history books for a long time to come, Norman said. Were living through pretty much another civil rights movement.

She was 8 years old when her parents talked to her about the shooting of Trayvon Martin, who was 17 when he was fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch coordinator. Norman is now 17.

When youre Black, you have to learn it so your parents teach you it and then you teach your kids, but when youre not I feel like its a completely different experience, she said. I think schools should do a better job of being able to educate people so that everyone has the same perspective of what goes on.

If you step into Maria Muellers AP Government classroom you will see all of that is taken into consideration. The desks are facing one another in efforts to have open dialogue between the students.

Its the arrangement of desks and having kids look at each other, Mueller said. I try to begin by doing activities that compel the kids to pause and look at each other and look at the humanity in each other.

Mueller says that it is not just about the content being taught, but also about how it is being explained to students as well. This year especially.

When we have what Id call this momentous summer of movement with regard to race, it doesnt necessarily change what we teach but it certainly helps us teach with content that is so close to home, she said. Since its a presidential year, youve got that factor and youve got the COVID factor, too. Quite honestly, there is plenty COVID-related content that relates to government: the response, you can look at it from a state level or from national government.

She acknowledges that during open conversations like the ones her classroom is set up to have, not only do students get something out of it, so do the teachers.

We all have become more cognizant of how inclusive or not we are, she said. I think all educators are constantly re-evaluating themselves as we should be. Its part of building a community, its part of building a context in which people feel comfortable speaking their truth.

Mueller has seen Norman in action when the 17-year-old was one of her students. Today, the senior has dreams to go to an Ivy League school and study political science or government. Norman hopes to continue being part of the fight for racial justice.

Ill go through the 60s and all of those pictures are really being recreated now and in some ways its so disheartening because its decades later were still in the same fight - a similar fight - for racial justice, Norman said. I think its also very inspiring because the energy, at least in Mason, in my hometown, its something that Ive never felt before. I feel like its a sign of people waking up.

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2020 events are changing the way schools are teaching students - WCPO

Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP

Attorney General Bill Barr compared coronavirus lockdowns around the country to house arrest and said that, other than slavery, the restrictions are the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history," during an appearance Wednesday at Hillsdale College.

"You know, putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest, Barr told a friendly audience at the conservative Michigan school during a question-and-answer session. Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history.

Barr also took shots at governors who have implemented stringent coronavirus restrictions that he believes defy common sense, saying that they treat free citizens as babies that can't take responsibility for themselves and others."

All this nonsense about how something is dictated by science is nonsense, Barr said.

During the same appearance where he insisted that coronavirus lockdowns rank right behind slavery in terms of injustice, Barr attacked the Black Lives Matter movement.

Theyre not interested in Black lives, Barr said. Theyre interested in props, a small number of Blacks who are killed by police during conflicts with police usually less than a dozen a year who they can use as props to achieve a much broader political agenda.

In 2019, 250 Black people were shot and killed by police, according to the Washington Posts police shootings database, and thats not counting non-shootings such as George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police in May or Daniel Prudes killing in Rochester in March.

Barr has been extremely critical of the protests that exploded after George Floyds killing: He recently told prosecutors to consider charging violent protesters with sedition, or plotting to overthrow the government, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. He also asked the Justice Departments civil rights division to consider bringing charges against Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan for allowing demonstrators to set up the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone over the summer, the Journal reported.

Earlier this month, Barr said it was a false narrative that theres a widespread problem of the police killing Black people. Instead, Barr insisted on Wednesday, the bigger problem is so-called Black on Black crime.

I view the question of Black lives as not only keeping people alive but also having prosperity and flourishing in their communities, Barr said. Most deaths in the inner city of young Black males below the age of 44, the leading cause of death is being shot by another Black person. And thats crime.

Homicide was the leading cause of death among Black males under the age of 44 in 2017, according to the CDC. But in the years of growth for the Black Lives Matter following the death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of his killer, George Zimmerman, the largely decentralized protest movement has also advocated for economic and social justice and reducing gun violence, as have other organizations, groups, and activists allied with the movement.

Additionally, most violent crime is intraracial. Most murders against white victims, for example, are committed by other white people, FBI statistics have shown.

Barr also took the opportunity to slam his own Justice Department prosecutors, equating them to pre-schoolers. Barr has been heavily criticized by current and former prosecutors who say hes undermined them and done President Donald Trumps political bidding.

Earlier this year, for example, four federal prosecutors in the Roger Stone case abruptly quit after Barr stepped in to recommend a shorter sentence than they had. Stone was eventually sentenced to three years in prison, but Trump later commuted that.

They do not have the political legitimacy to be the public face of tough decisions and they lack the political buy-in necessary to publicly defend those decisions, Barr said of career DOJ prosecutors during his prepared remarks at Hillsdale.

Name one successful organization where the lowest-level employees decisions are deemed sacrosanct. There arent any, Barr said. Letting the most junior members set the agenda might be a good philosophy for a Montessori preschool, but its no way to run a federal agency.

Cover: Attorney General William Barr speaks during a press conference about Operation Legend at the Dirksen Federal Building Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in Chicago. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

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Bill Barr Just Compared COVID Lockdowns to Slavery and Said Black Victims of Police Violence Are 'Props' - VICE