by Sabrina Hernandez, 16 years old
A note from the editors
We would like to thank Sabrina Hernandez, who is not a member of our staff, for her contribution to the Eagles Scream and for writing about such a difficult topic. While this article is not an official Eagles Scream statement, we would like to provide our unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement and will be providing several resources below. We will include petitions to sign and emails to send, but also books and podcasts for our readers to educate themselves on the racism that continues to plague the United States and to learn how you can become actively antiracist. Thank you, and keep fighting.
A master link for petitions and resources (does not belong to us)
Books
The Fire next Time by James Baldwin
The fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race by Jesmyn Ward
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
How To Be An Antiracist by Ibran X. Kendi
Podcasts
Slow Burn, season 4, on the subject of David Duke
Justice in America, episode 19: Restorative Justice; What Justice Could Look Like
1619, by The New York Times
White Lies, NPR
What Happened to our Society?
On May 25, 2020, at 8:00 pm, an African American man named George Floyd was going to go and get groceries for himself. Once he was done, two officers came up to his car. Yes, he had had encounters with the police before, but that’s why he moved to a smaller town. Once they reached the driver’s seat where George was sitting, they dragged him out of his car and to the curb. Not having any respect for him–they just grabbed and pulled him out. They took him against the wall and made him sit on the ground. Then the officers walked him over to the police car, but he tripped. One officer, Derek Chauvin, a white man, made him get down to the ground while in handcuffs and then started to press his knee into his throat.
Eight minutes and forty-six seconds went by. George kept saying over and over, “I can’t breathe! I can't breathe!”
One officer tells him to get up and get in the car but George goes on to say
“I will, I can't move, I can't breathe”
8:30pm George stops moving and talking, an EMT is called, once they arrive they find him unconscious and unresponsive. They then flipped him over, put him in a gurney and took him to a hospital.
At 9:25 pm George Floyd was pronounced dead …
There are kids that look up to police officers and want to be like them, but here they are not setting a good example for the generation to come. These kids are going to grow up and see that police officers don't help and protect us, they just hurt and kill innocent people. Now the generation after us will see how the world has grown to hate. That's what they're going to think of the country. No one wants to be a part of a country who shows hate and kills innocent people just because of the color of their skin.
It is up to us, Generation Z, to fix this. We need to show the generation after us that the world isn't cruel, all colors of skin are equal, and that we will stand up for each other no matter what. No racism, no discrimination. We need the generation after us to be in a safe world without getting judged because of the color of their skin. It's time we took a step forward and stopped this chaos. I want my voice to inspire people my age and start getting their voices heard, whether that be in the form of protest or social media. Our voices need to be heard because we are the generation that will make this world a better place for new generations to come. For George Floyd and others we will make this world a better place together!