At the Center of Our Nations
Over the last month, protests have been occurring all over the United States ... in all 50 states to be exact, over the death of George Floyd, who was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill.
In 2015, the Washington Post started tracking how many people have been shot and killed by police in the United States. In the past year, it shows that there were more than 1,025 fatal shootings by a police officer in the U.S. What's even more telling in this tracker is that black Americans are killed by police more than twice as much as white Americans.
It's also clear, upon looking at the numbers, that fatal shootings have been consistent every year. Some police chiefs have claimed that there have been significant efforts made toward de-escalation training.
George Floyd's death, which was captured through a video that made its way all over the world, didn't mark the beginning of something new, because peaceful and violent black lives matter protests have been occurring since 1919, in what is known as the Red Summer.
Those deadly and violent riots led to civil rights organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to expand its efforts on promoting and fighting for racial justice.
The fight has existed for a while now, not a long enough while, but this year isn't the start of something new ... it's a continuation of a constant fight for black pride and a self-determined demand for justice.
Other sources mentioned on this episode:
