May 25, 2021 - Dear Mr. Floyd
Updated: Feb 15, 2022
Dear Mr. Floyd,
Monday, May 25, 2020, the world was forever changed.
You did not ask to be a martyr. You just wanted to be able to breathe.
Nine minutes twenty-nine seconds
9 Minutes 29 Seconds
00:09:29
No matter how you put it, it is still...
If justice were truly served, you would still be here. You would not be a memory. You would not be a martyr,
Instead, justice was demanded by
Black People and White People and Indigenous People and Gay people and Young People and Disabled People and Hispanic People and Aging People and Asian People and Left-Wing People and Right-Wing People and Military People and Homeless People and just PEOPLE
for hours, days, weeks, months, PEOPLE DEMANDED JUSTICE.
This time! This time! THIS TIME!
Things were different. People were home to see what Black people, your people, my people, see every day.
People were able to see what our ancestors died for every day
and what we die trying to have every day -
FREEDOM * JUSTICE * EQUALITY *
The root of freedom is free. How can we be free when we must fight for it?
Mr. Floyd, I am sorry that it took a pandemic for people to see you; to see Black people.
Mr. Floyd, I am sorry that you suffered.
Mr. Floyd, I am sorry that you were murdered.
Mr. Floyd, I am sorry that you are not here with your family and your baby girl.
Mr. Floyd, You just wanted to breathe. You did not ask to be a martyr.
We demanded accountability because justice was denied. No one should die over a $20 bill.
We demanded accountability because, for over 400 years, the necks of the oppressed have
been underneath the foot and knee of the oppressor.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2021
ACCOUNTABILITY
NOT JUSTICE
JUSTICE DEMANDS that you would still be here Mr. Floyd. Justice demands that
Daunte Wright
Ahmaud Arbery
Eric Garner
Sandra Bland
Michael Brown
Tamir Rice
Alton Sterling
David McAtee
Dreasjon Reed
Botham Jean
Medgar Evers
Korryn Gaines
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz
Tanisha Anderson
Ezell Ford
Kimani Gray
Trayvon Martin
Kayla More
Dante' Price
Martin Luther King
Shereese Francis
Derrick Jones
Aiyana Stanley-Jones
Emmett Till
our ancestors
too damn many would still be here or at least would have lived into their golden years. For some, justice would demand that they live to see a double-digit birthday.
Sadly, they will not be the last. You will not be the last. Hell, you were not the last Mr. Floyd. We continue to fight until no more names are added because
BLACK LIVES MATTER
Mr. Floyd, we are educating others about what we live through. What you lived through. What killed you.
Who killed you is one thing but what killed you is still here.
People are reading books, watching webinars, attending meetings which are well and good but they also must
LISTEN to Black people
LISTEN to Black people
LISTEN to Black people
LISTEN to Black people
LISTEN to our lived experience
LISTEN when we tell them that Jim Crow is still here.
Then take MEANINGFUL, INTENTIONAL ACTION against that which divides us.
Jim Crow is trying to keep us from voting - again
Jim Crow is trying to keep us from academia - again
Jim Crow is pulling over people with melanated skin - again
Mr. Floyd, we've got this. We are not backing down. Your precious little girl, Gianna, was right when she said, "Daddy changed the world." Yes, you did Mr. Floyd. We are forever in your debt.
Always,
Jennifer and Brian