Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter does not means that other lives don't matter. But saying All Lives Matter ONLY when someone says Black lives matter is a cop out. It's just a way of deflecting a valid point. Because, you see, all lives are not being shot down just because they are black. Just read where a white suspect resisted arrest by punching the cops trying to arrest him and trying to choke one of the officers. His mugshot did not show any bruising or anything to show he was in an altercation with cops. Looked like a high school yearbook picture. A black man doing the same thing would have been beaten senseless and then shot because the officers would have "feared for their lives and a gun planted on him." Wow. Not scared of a white man obviously trying to kill you but afraid of a black man not resisting arrest. Yet an unarmed man was placed in an illegal choke hold by NYC police which was videotaped with him saying "I can't breathe" and he is dead. A naked, obviously disturbed army veteran was shot dead because the officer said he feared for his life. Feared what???? That this naked man was going to shoot bullets out of his penis??? A black man stopped for a traffic violation who told the cop that he had a gun and a license to carry was shot dead in the car with his girlfriend and child IN THE BACK SEAT. WTF????? Could the cop have said, "get out of the car? Where is the gun? Don't reach for it. I'll retrieve the gun. I'm going to pat you down to see if there are other weapons. You're being placed in handcuffs while I retrieve the gun, Your safety and mine. Don't want to hurt the passenger or the child." You tell someone to show license and registration and then you shoot him as he tries to retrieve it for you. GET REAL. If I'm going to shoot a cop, I'm not going to tell you first that I have a gun. That cop did not care about the passenger or the child. Even the governor said he wouldn't be dead if he was white.

So when we see (hope we don't) white folks subjected to the same treatment WITH THE SAME OUTCOME AS WHAT USUALLY HAPPENS TO BLACKS, then all lives will matter. When we see white men on the ground with a cop over them firing into their bodies, then all lives will matter. When we see white women stopped for a so called traffic violation, placed in a jail cell out of sight of the cameras and find her hanging in her cell, then ALL lives will matter.

And I do not apologize for how I feel. My 46 year old son has been rousted by cops on NYC streets and subways several times. Why? Because he is a black man. Never mind that he is a black man with a college degree. BLACK LIVES MATTER. WHEN MY LIFE MATTERS TO YOU, THEN ALL LIVES WILL MATTER. This is just my opinion based on the history of law enforcement in the United States. I know that the majority of law enforcement do serve and protect. Unfortunately, it's the racist bad cops who get the attention. So my "all lives do not matter" is for those to whom Black lives or any lives other than white do not matter.

Take a deep breathe

So much pain, anger and frustration going on this past week and for some these past years of their lifetime and 400 years of history of Blacks in the United States. Hurting for all who lost their lives, black and white, civilian and law enforcement. If you do not hurt for those 7 people, their families and friends, you are heartless.