FROM RODNEY KING TO GEORGE FLOYD
I graduated from Occidental University in Los Angeles, California. As a freshman I watched the brutal beating of Rodney King by LAPD officers on March 3, 1991 that was captured on video. Ever since slave patrols the African American community has been subjected to harsh treatment from law enforcement, who seemly always avoid suffering any consequences for their actions. However, this video provided the type of ironclad evidence that everyone assumed would finally convict cops of abusive behavior. As a sophomore I was shocked when those officers were acquitted on April 29, 1992. In response to the injustice, five days of devastating riots ensued in Los Angeles.
I became very jaded about the possibility of police ever being held accountability for anything. In the smart phone area of the last decade, too many police killings of African American men have been caught on video. Unfortunately, the track record of prosecutions must less convictions have been abysmal, so my pessimism continued.
Then on May 25, 2020 the murder a handcuffed George Floyd by police officers in front of witnesses was seen on multiple videos in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was tantamount to a modern-day lynching. Protests have broken out across the country demanding that the officers be prosecuted and convicted, and that police reform be implemented. I am optimistic this time. Change is going to happen because the cries for it are too sustained and too organized to be ignored.
Often the leaders in these protests are young people. For example:
- 17-year old Jalen Thompson got 1,500 people to turn out for a protest in O’Fallon, Missouri. Police Chief Tim Clothier and other officers joined the unity march.
- In Bethesda, Maryland over 1000 people, most of them white teenagers, showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement that has been demanding police reform for years.
- Judeah Reynolds, who is only nine-years old, had the misfortune to actually witness Floyd’s murder in person. Yet a few days later she was working on a placard that said, “It can be better” on the sidewalk near the crime scene. Then shortly after that she and her mother attended a rally with civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton.
- In Houston, where Floyd once lived, young people like Saachi Sharma attended a rally in rain storm to honor his memory.
The National Children’s Campaign (NCC) is committed to the cause of police reform and racial justice. We support the Movement For Black Lives (M4BL) in their Week of Action, which is occurring during the first six days on June. NCC endorsed their efforts in this statement. Please read it in its entirety. Share it with other people. Think about what you can do to help the cause.
Each day has a specific theme focused of demands for change:
- June 1: We Demand The Rights of Protestors Be Respected
- June 2: We Demand a Divestment from the Police and Investment In Black Communities
- June 3: We Demand Immediate Relief for Our Communities
- June 4: We Demand Community Control
- June 5: We Demand an End to the War Against Black People
- June 6: Making Meaning out of this moment of crisis: Forging an abolitionist strategy for Defending Black Lives
I have been on the receiving end of multiple stops by the police while driving that never resulted in tickets or warnings even being issued, which makes sense since no moving violation ever occurred. However, in each of those instances if I could get a ticket for “driving while black” I would have been cited every time.
Every African American teenager or adult male has a story to tell about their bad experiences with the police. As the father of five-year old and eight-year old boys I hope that today’s activism will limit their exposure to this dynamic as they grow up. Meaningful change is long overdue.