OPINION
By Haley Knight |
Editor-in-Chief
When I started this piece, I wanted to express why the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement was important. However, when researching I came to the realization that my voice is not the one that needs to be heard. Instead, I will let the voices of our students tell the story.
“To me, the Black Lives Matter movement is the start of something new. For years, black people have been at a disadvantage while living in a country they were forced to come to. Black people have suffered. They have fought. They have cried out. The racial injustice that we as a people have endured (and still endure) in this country every single day since 1619 needs to be put to an end. Black Lives Matter is not just about ending police brutality. It’s not about being anti-white or anti-everyone else. It’s about dismantling the system. The system that was never built for us in the first place but rather was built against us. It’s about reform and building a new system that benefits everyone. Considering the fact, that black people, along with Native Americans and other minorities, literally built this country up, we deserve more than having streets named after Martin Luther King, Jr. Black Lives Matter is about allowing us to live freely. Allowing us to shop freely without being followed or harassed. Allowing our kids to roam freely and grab snacks without being worried about being murdered in cold blood on their way home. It’s about allowing black people to jog through their neighborhoods freely. It’s about gaining justice for the black lives that have been taken senselessly and unjustly. Although we gained our civil rights in 1968, to this day, we are still not seen as equal. For a group of people whose culture & livelihood inspires, creates, and contributes to almost everything in this country, we are still not seen as equal. We are tired of watching our brothers and sisters die for no reason. We are being brutally killed by the police. We are being brutally killed by healthcare workers that believe “black people cannot feel pain” and as a result, ignore our cries and suffering. We are being brutally killed by our racist neighbors that simply do not like us because of the color of our skin. And even if we are not killed, our dreams and hopes are often killed because of the system. Our rights are often stripped from us. The Black Lives Matter movement is about uprooting that system. It affects me every day because I am black. Unlike police officers that can simply take off their badge and live life as normal, I cannot stop being black. Nor do I ever want to. Although this is our reality, this is not the end of our story. It’s only the beginning.” - Leslie Jonah, 18, Biology major, sophomore
“Black Lives Matter is more than a movement to me. It means life to me. It means that, as an Nigerian-American woman, I matter. And in a world where I’m constantly made to feel like I don’t or that my life is somehow less important than others that’s extremely important. So Black Lives Matter means everything to me.” - Wendy Chukumah, 19, Nursing, junior
“The BLM movement is driving force fighting for the equality of black Americans. It started somewhat as a hashtag and became something much more impactful after so many African Americans shared the same frustration about still being seen as less than in modern days. The movement affects me both positively and negatively. It’s exciting and inspiring to have modern day leaders driving a movement where they’re willing to risk it all to gain equal rights for me and people that look like me. On the other hand, I sometimes fear that the mere association with the group makes my white counterparts more prone to hear me and my concerns less because they’ve already come up with their own preconceived assumptions about what the groups represents. Similar to the Black Panther Party, the BLM group has a bad reputation when really, they’re all for enriching the community.” - Christian (NeCole) Osborne, 26, Communication major, junior
