ACT for George Floyd and Christian Cooper and Sandra Bland and, and, and for all of humanity. Don't do nothing.
Maryann Kerr, MA Leadership
Chief Executive Officer | Certified Leadership Coach
George Floyd's last words, calling out to his mother and "I can't breathe," MUST ring through our ears and cause us to act. This post is from a friend's daughter, a young black woman living in Canada. It is a letter Keira wrote the day after George Floyd's death, to her brother who lives in Chicago. It is shared with permission.
"I just woke up in the middle of the night sobbing. I don’t know why George Floyd’s death is hitting me different, because I know this happens all the time to innocent black unarmed folks, but I can’t get the image of him begging just to breathe out of my mind.
I’ve re-written this 3 times. I want to scream at you “be careful” “don’t be caught doing any stupid shit” but I know none of this matters. A black man could live in fear his entire life and be meticulous with every decision and still be killed because his blackness is seen as a threat before he even opens his mouth.
I feel so angry and I’m trying to replace that feeling with some morsel of hope, but I’m tired. Tired of constantly seeing white people remain alive after committing heinous crimes - like school shootings – or killing 8 of us in Church and going to McDonald’s - and somehow live to see a court trial, when all a black person has to do is exist to give a white person a reason to kill us.
Due to past experiences with racism, I often feel afraid to go into predominantly white spaces, afraid to wear my hair out natural, afraid to wear hoodies. And although the fear is sometimes overwhelming for me, I can’t even begin to imagine how you and your friends feel as black men.
I don’t really have words to express how disgusted I am that we live in a world that is so plagued with hatred and racism that black men are being lynched in broad daylight. I don’t understand why this sense of despair and urgency I feel in my body doesn’t translate to every single person in America. I don’t understand how Mr. Floyd’s death doesn’t enrage everyone enough to take action. To call out racism, to demand justice.
I am furious that because he’s a black man, some people will go to bed tonight thinking his murder was justified - thinking that because the officers who killed Mr. Floyd could do it - they could maybe get away with killing a black man too.
Every day I pray for you and your friends’ safety, and for our mother’s peace of mind - because the only thing worse than losing a brother is losing your son.
Please know I LOVE YOU more than anything. More than you could ever imagine. If anything happened to you (god forbid) - I would fight until I took my last breath for justice.
And while you’re still here I’ll of course continue fighting and using my voice because our families, friends and future children deserve so much better. I know these are just meaningless words..... I wish I could protect you. I’m so sorry I can’t..... You’re my heart.
️Love you to death"
Generosity Guide | Social Profit Netweaver | A healing Neuro Leader | Mentor | Board of Director | Former Development Professional | Mother | Friend | and Light in the World!
4yI care, very much! You are valued and loved! I protested today in the Guelph, Ontario, BLM March!
Award-winning communications & development professional. Working on becoming fluent in French.
4yKeira your voice is powerful and I am allied with you - thanks Maryann Kerr (She/Her) for making sure I saw Keira’s words.
Crafting Impactful Narratives & Championing Equality | Amplifying Voices in Marketing, Media & Women's Sports | My Words, My Stand
4yThank you Maryann for posting this. As I read this, I could feel the pain. This is something that affects all of us. NO ONE is immune from the wrongs that are going on. As a white 'privileged" male, I'm absolutely sick to stomach over all this. I'm embarrassed, disgusted. The world has been placed on pause by COVID. Before we press play, lets clean this up!
Change Agent for Women's Health - Consultant, Coach, Author, Speaker & Poet - Living my mantra "Know your value, Live your values"
4yMaryann Kerr (She/Her) , what a beautifully written article shedding some light on this difficult topic. It is hard to understand, but we must try to find ways to impact change. It's a together thing.
Product Design and Development | Emerging Tech | A.I., NLP and Machine Learning | Researcher | Startups
4yHow many times are we going to be outraged and nothing changes? It feels like a new approach is way overdue. Let's describe this horrific event using a seesaw. One side is just slammed into the ground. Media latches on and just slams it harder and harder. Protesters slam it. Government slams it. No matter how many written words, no matter how many outraged, the seesaw is not going any lower. Events can only be exploited so much before we all run out of steam and wait for the next tragic event. The dust cloud from this slamming of the seesaw is much worse than any one event. It's reinforcing and building on stereotype threats (on all sides) which keeps that seesaw slammed into the ground. I think we all need to shift our focus to the other side of the seesaw. MLK was a master at this approach.