the EQUALIZER

love not HATE Uhuru editor-in-chief explores the Black Lives Matter movement

WORDS BY SIERRA ALLEN

ince childhood, a staple lesson learned is threat to certain people. I heard the imploring cry to trust the police as they are obliged to of someone who looked like my brother and S protect and serve the community. We could’ve been my brother on the 911 call. I felt the learn to call the police during frightful situations, guilt of his mother not being able to protect her but most importantly, to lean on them as they son, but from an older sibling’s perspective shield us from danger. However, for many black instead. As the oldest daughter of a Navy SEAL, individuals, those feelings that once created a I was always taught to defend my siblings, and blanket of security soon disappear as we learn the thought of my brother’s lifeless body flashing to face the real world. across the news screens like Martin’s gave me goosebumps. This was such a huge weight on my For me, that security blanket vanished after heart, and no matter how much I tried to shake Trayvon Martin, an unarmed, 17-year-old black the connection off, it just wouldn’t fade. boy, was shot and killed while shortcutting through a gated community on his way home. With the facts and scenario explained, along Like many before him, his death was accompa- with the audio of the 911 call, I just knew that nied with injustice as his killer, George Zimmer- Zimmerman would be indicted. When I man, was acquitted at trial. Although many of expressed my confidence to an older coworker these situations happened prior to Martin, this who was also black, he laughed an exhausted laugh and replied, “Don’t get your hopes up particular incident initiated the Black Lives young lady. That man will go free.” Matter movement that stands today. I do not write this to inflict anger, but to impose under- Confused and caught off guard, I thought to standing instead, of the importance of the Black myself, “Where is your hope?” But shortly after Lives Matter movement. hearing the verdict of “not guilty,” my heart sank as I rose out of my seat, dumbfounded, speech- As an 18-year-old black girl fresh out of a diverse less and now, just like my coworker, hopeless. high school, I tuned to the State of Florida v. George Zimmerman trial as if Trayvon Martin Just like that, I woke up and realized that the were my own little brother. He began to feel like world I once knew was no longer the same, and a part of me, because in a way, he was. We shared the certainty I had for the judicial system disap- the same skin color and cultural background, but peared. I wiped a tear from my face and gathered the biggest factor was mentally seeing my biolog- myself, not knowing that this single tear would ical brother within him. Just like Martin, my be the first of many more and I’d soon laugh the brother is a tall, young, black boy who poses as a same exhausted laugh to keep from crying.

64 | THE BURR MAGAZINE “This was such a huge weight on my heart and no matter how much I tried to shake the connection off, it just wouldn’t fade.” —Sierra Allen

Soon after the trial, Black Lives Matter was cre- group. Although there is no correlation of the police officer himself, but privilege is still ated as “a call to action and a response to the vir- two organizations, it’s important to compare the expressed through his arrest. And even though ulent anti-Black racism that permeates our systematic unfairness of their descriptions, his goal was to “start a race war,” as stated in his society,” according to the founders, Patrisse which also misleads the perception of the public. confession according to the New York Daily Cullors, Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza. The vic- This perception is then translated into the “angry News, he was only painted as a troubled kid, timized grew tired of being victims and the evo- black people” stereotype, when in actuality, which is another prime example of privilege a lution of this movement is a direct reflection of Black Lives Matter is a reaction to the lack of black man wouldn’t be able to hold. that growth. Black Lives Matter aims for a world basic human rights the black community has. Black Lives Matter is more than the focal point where black lives are no longer systematically and As stated above, it’s important to compare the of the validity of black life within the system, but intentionally targeted for demise, but acknowl- systematic unfairness of both the Ku Klux Klan it’s about the validity of black life and equal priv- edged and treated equally. It aims to rebuild and and Black Lives Matter. It’s also important to ilege as a whole. It all coincides. rebirth the black communities from within, while compare the unfairness between black and white also challenging the system. Black Lives Matter is a reminder and protest that individuals by law enforcement as well. people of color deserve and demand equal pro- According to a study conducted by The Guardian, In 2015, Dylann Roof, the mass murderer tection, human rights and life, just like everyone “Despite making up only 2 percent of the total involved in the Charleston, South Carolina, else. In fact, “just because the movement aims US population [in 2015], African-American church shooting, killed nine innocent black to end police violence against black lives does males between the ages of 15 and 35 comprised parishioners as they stood and prayed near the not mean it encourages violence against police more than 15 percent of all deaths logged this by black people. Black Lives Matter has never, end of Bible study. As police arrived, Roof was year by an ongoing investigation into the use of ever insinuated that other lives don’t,” Lilly Wor- calmly arrested and taken to Burger King before deadly force by police. Their rate of police-in- kneh, The Huffington Posts’ Black Voices senior his arrival at the police station, two luxuries a volved deaths was five times higher than for editor, says. So when people type or chant Black black man wouldn’t be awarded. As a black man, white men of the same age.” Lives Matter, it is not a slogan that is meant to this wouldn’t even be an option, considering he’d take away from the importance of other lives, but The same study also shows that out of 1,134 have to be alive to even have that option. it is a reminder and declaration of the impor- deaths at the hands of law enforcement, young In 2016, Philando Castile was shot to death tance of ours just as well. black men were nine times more likely than seven times in front of his girlfriend and four- other Americans to be killed by the police. Pick up Uruhu’s latest edition to read the Burr’s year-old daughter after reaching for his ID. Not editor-in-chief, Samantha Ickes’s piece titled Declared by the Black Lives Matter official web- only was he reaching for his ID, he was also “Rooted In Empathy.” B site page, “When we say Black Lives Matter, we reaching for his gun permit and explaining that are broadening the conversation around state he was armed, which is a tactic the black com- violence to include all of the ways in which black munity learns early in life. Castile took all of the people are intentionally left powerless at the precautions of warning the police officer of his hands of the state. We are talking about the ways licensed weapon because he knew he’d become in which black lives are deprived of our basic a threat but was still shot to death. The fact that human rights and dignity.” he knew he had to quickly explain himself is the fear the black community feels when questioned Even though Black Lives Matter is a rallying cry by the police, even if there’s no wrongdoing. for liberation, there has been a lot of backlash from non-supporters. Rooted in apparent Although Roof was sentenced to death and Cas- racism, the Ku Klux Klan is described as a “white tile’s murderer was charged with three felonies, Patriotic Christian organization,” but the Black this is just one of many examples of systematic Lives Matter movement is mislabeled as a hate racism in law enforcement. No, Roof was not a

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