WHY BLACK LIVES MATTER
In this country, police have always been used to oppress, subjugate, and kill Black people. From over-seer to officer, the brutality of the constabulary against Black people has been accepted and encouraged. The idea of "protect and serve" is a very recent thing in police culture, which has come about because of the push by anti-brutality forces mostly led by Black activists.
The Black Panther Party for Defence was formed in large part to deal with the brutality of the Police against the Black Community during the 1960s and 70s. Because their approach scared the ruling powers and most White People, the point they were making was lost in the cloud of media backlash and manipulation. The issue was pushed even further back as the Police terror continued across the Nation. The forces of racism and white supremacy have ALWAYS been a part of the police culture from its very inception. So, the incursion of mass numbers of these folks into the Nation's law enforcement community was inevitable and intentional. A place and way to have a "legal" foot on the neck of the Black community. That's what Law Enforcement in general in this country became. Laws were passed to insure the mass distablization of the Black community, especially the men, through encarceration and disenfranchisement. And they had sway over the narrative, until now, enter the BLM movement!
Once again highlighting this issue of abuse, the BLM movement comes at a time when technology affords the ability to get the message out visually to the world in a way never before possible. And it has stirred a worlwide focus on the issue of police brutality and corruption everywhere, elevating it to the importance the matter diserves. It has even begun people looking at the funding of the police and if those funds can be better spent, so as to de-escalate the need for the amount of policing we currently are seeing. Because Black Lives Matter, this issue has been brought into the light in such a manner that it will never be in the darkness again. Because Black Lives Matter, the issues of disrimination and disenfranchisement that face the Black community and are common to oppressed peoples everywhere have come full forward. Because Black Lives Matter, all lives matter!!
Rev Odeye