Happy Juneteenth Day!
Like every holiday, it’s a time to celebrate. A day that was merely taught about in schools is now a holiday being tweeted by public officials, community leaders and the mass public. A day of emancipation for many; a beginning struggle for the fight of true justice, equality and freedom for all in our country.
Unfortunately and sadly to say though, we’re not there yet, given what’s been happening recently and for decades, with police brutality, the war on poverty, race, and in particular, our Black and Brown communities, with the precious lives of so many, like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, being coldly murdered without a second thought or doubt in the minds of their killer cops. Given the failure of our system, and the false guise of the war on drugs or broken windows policing being used to antagonize, oppress and kill our black and brown brothers and sisters, police reform simply isn’t enough. Tweeting #BlackLivesMatter isn’t enough. We must do more. We must demand that Breonna Taylor’s killer cop isn’t just fired, but arrested and charged. We must prosecute all killer cops. We must end the war on drugs. We must defund the police and reinvest into our marginalized communities with housing, healthcare, community/social services, education and mental health, while replacing the police with medical professionals, mental health workers, social workers and homeless outreach workers as first time responders in most situations (i.e., nonviolent). We must provide equal access to education, healthcare and housing for all, areas where our black and brown others have been traditionally shut out from or segregated in other ways. We must provide reparations to our Black communities.
So, as we celebrate Juneteenth Day today, may we be inspired and empowered to believe and see more, that we are completely capable of having a land of the free and home of the brave, but with freedom, comes work, … standing up and speaking out for the oppressed and the wronged. It requires us to be brave, and to speak out. How will you fight for and speak on the behalf of your Black brothers, sisters, friends, families and neighbors? Let’s encourage each other speak up and to stand for each other, as everyone is important and not one soul is less than another.
P.S. If you live in the Los Angeles area, there is a protest today in Palmdale (flyer attached). Robert Fuller and his brother, Terron Jammal Boone, were recently murdered. If you can, please go and support; let them know that BLACK LIVES MATTER.
