Ya'll I'm really tired and drained of posting hashtags every time another person dies from police brutality. When my sister told me the officer that killed Philando Castile was acquitted, I was a little shocked but sadly not surprised. I was shocked because even with the videos that were released showing excessive use of a weapon..... there was still no conviction. I was shocked that even though this man complied with the officer........ he was still killed. When I watched the dash cam footage of the day Philando was killed my eyes teared up, and I thought about his daughter and girlfriend who were in the car watching him being shot to death. They will probably be traumatized for the rest of their lives.
I understand I'm not an officer so I have no idea what it is like to wear a badge and put my life in harm's way, but how many times are officers going to continue to get away with murder because they said they felt "threatened" or feared for their lives? Where is the justice for the victim? How do you appear not to be a threat to someone who subconsciously perceives you as threatening? What about that person made him a threat and if a person's differences make he or she threatening than some officers are in the wrong profession.
I actually wrote another post about Philando called Art Imitates Life on my other blog. You can read it here. I compared his death to the death of a fictional character named Joey Campbell in the series Shots Fired. The series focused on the murder investigations of a white and black teen who were killed by officers in two separate incidents. The show ended with an indictment for the white teen's killer but an acquittal for the black teen's (Joey Campbell) killer. I was a little confused as to why there was justice for Joey but now I feel like it's because the writers wanted to reflect the current time. This is where our criminal justice systems stands currently in regards to black men.
Like I said I'm tired of posting hashtags. I want to do so much more. Sometimes I feel hopeless and wonder what can I do but for now I have my words and a voice and I plan to use them.
RIP Philando
Comments
Post a Comment
Add your 2 cents