Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. These three black women co-founded the Black Lives Matter organization. The Hashtag (#BlackLivesMatter) was created in 2012 after Trayvon Martin's death, George Zimmerman, was acquitted for his crime, and dead 17-year old Trayvon was posthumously placed on trial for his own death.
Since the death of Trayvon Martin, there have been countless instances in which black people have been killed, or ended up dead, at the hands of law enforcement. Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile. All black. All dead. All involving law enforcement. #BlackLivesMatter was created out of feelings. Feelings that stemmed from the constant mistreatment, abuse, profiling, and senseless killing of black people. The purpose of the #BlackLivesMatter movement is to liberate and empower Black People, because WE FEEL LIKE OUR LIVES DO NOT MATTER.
Unfortunately, there are a number of people, who are purposely, or unintentionally, undermining and marginalizing the movement by stating "All Lives Matter" (#AllLivesMatter). This needs to end. As humans, we all know that "All Lives Matter". It is something that we inherently understand based on our existence and internal moral compass. Therefore, it doesn't need to be said. It sure as hell doesn't need to be said when young black men are nine times more likely than other Americans to be killed by police officers. I am certainly objective enough to understand how someone would feel like #AllLivesMatter could potentially be a positive idea. The problem is, it's not.
You see, in The United States, black people have endured inhumane experiences since the 1600s. And despite former U.S President Thomas Jefferson writing, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" in the Declaration of Independence, it has been apparent throughout the history of this country that the lives of black people, do not matter. Take the horrific, unjustified murder of Emmett Till for example.
Or the story of Rodney King and the L.A Riots, or more recently the unnecessary deaths of Eric Garner and Alton Sterling, at the hands of those who are sworn to Protect And Serve our community... The Police.
As a 28-year-old black man, who coaches mostly black teenage athletes, who was raised in Coney Island, Brooklyn, and Harlem, New York City, raised by a black female preacher and a black male college professor, the lives of black people are vital to me. Furthermore, the mistreatment of black people is just alarming to me. Trayvon Martin could've been one of my athletes. Eric Garner could have been my Uncle or In-Law. Had I been born in the 1940s, I could have been Emmit Till. I identify with all of those men. Sandra Bland, and my mother could have been friends. She could've been my aunt Sandra.
So when you say "All Lives Matter", especially to a black person, you're essentially saying the history and narrative of black people in this country, does not matter to you. You're saying that our feelings, with regards to the mistreatment and injustices against black people don't matter. Your saying that mass lynching didn't matter. You're saying that Jim Crow Laws didn't matter. You're saying that the Civil Rights movement, and works of Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Marcus Garvey, W.E.B.Dubois, Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Fred Hampton, Zora Neale Hurston, Oprah Winfrey, and Barack Obama do not matter.
You don't have to agree with me. You don't have to support the #BlackLivesMatter movement, or organization. You're entitled to your opinion. But be careful of which side of this movement you stand on. Because Black lives do indeed matter, whether you like it or not, America.