December 8, 2014
It was an unbelievable moment in time. Carrying signs that read “Black Lives Matter” while chanting “I Can’t Breathe,” marchers literally shut down Times Square and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, the I-95 freeway in Miami, as well as a host of other major thoroughfares. Protesters entered the flagship stores of Apple and Macy’s in Manhattan to stage a die-in, while repeating the same moment of silence at Walmart’s and transportation hubs throughout the country.
During the first day of protests, I joined the marchers in Columbus Circle as we headed up the west side of New York City, shutting down the busy West Side Highway. Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asians, from Atlanta to Arizona and Miami to Memphis, marched in solidarity with one common message: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
This movement was a long time coming and is a culmination of the shooting deaths of Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner — all black males who were killed by white cops (or others) and allowed to get away with it. This wasn’t a “flash-in-the-pan” type of moment that only lasted a day or so before dying out. This was a nationwide wake-up call to America that we will not tolerate open season on black males.
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Right or wrong, the police have become an enemy of the people they were hired to serve. The fact that tens of thousands of Americans took to the streets all across the country in protest should prove the police have a perception problem. Right or wrong, the justice system appears racially unbalanced and as if it’s promoting a message that black lives don’t matter. Again, the fact that tens of thousands of Americans took to the streets all across the country in protest should prove the justice system in America has a perception problem.
The failure to secure an indictment against former police officer Darren Wilson for murdering Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO was the tipping point. The failure to secure an indictment against current police officer Daniel Pantaleo for murdering Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY was the last straw!
President Obama has proposed body cams on every police officer in the nation, but now, even that seems irrelevant. Eric Garner was murdered on camera while uttering his last words, “I can’t breathe,” yet a grand jury still sided with the cop who murdered him. How is this possible?? How can this be tolerated???
Wake up, America. Black males have had enough. The nation has had enough. A police state where innocent black males are murdered on our streets by rogue cops (or wannabe cops: George Zimmerman) and where racist judicial systems allow them to walk free will no longer be tolerated. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
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Thank you thank you DJ for doing this story on Eric Garner and for marching. I live in Jersey but work in the city and I was there marching too. I couldn't believe all the whites, asians latinos who marched too. I heard many say that Mike Brown situation had a lot of holes in it but Eric Garner was plain murder. I'm glad it continued all through the weekend even in the rain, and in alot of other cities too. This was a wake up call. A old high school buddy of mine is a cop and he said the protests made all them feel betrayed. I told him Theres a lot of good cops like him but this was for the bad ones that think they're above the law. I hope we made a difference and Eric Garner didn't die in vain.