No Justice, No Peace

"No justice, no peace." A sentiment that was frequently heard after Rodney King, a unarmed black man was beat nearly to death by five white police officers in Los Angeles on March 3, 1991. The officers were acquitted and many people angered by many years of mistreatment took to the streets and incited a riot that would last for six days. Rodney King appeared on TV and offered a plea that would be repeated for years to come, "Can we all just get along?"

Rodney King after his gruesome beating.

No, we can't all just get along and I will tell you why in this post. I know most bloggers don't blog about political issues such as this one but this is MY blog and if you don't like it, don't read.

Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old black teenager walking home on a rainy night when he was killed. He was STALKED by George Zimmerman, the man who would later kill him. On Saturday, George Zimmerman was found not guilty of 2nd degree murder AND manslaughter charges. This tells people that it is okay for them to beat black men and women until they are near death. That it is okay to shoot black men and women as long as they look suspicious. What is so suspicious or scary about a young black man walking in the rain with a hoodie armed only with an Arizona tea and a bag of Skittles? Why are we as black people standing by and allowing this to happen? How many more members of our community will we lose to senseless violence until we finally decide enough is enough and do something to change the circumstances that we are currently experiencing?

Regardless of what CNN or Fox News would have you to believe, this IS a race issue. Zimmerman used several stereotypes during his 911 call and even referred to Trayvon as a "f*****g coon". Trayvon is not the first person to die at the hands of a white person that decided to play God and take someone's life and he probably will not be the last (there are several cases of black men and women, even children, being killed by white people or police officers and not being charged. There is even a case where a black man was shot several times by police and was left to bleed to death while a police dog was airlifted to the vet.) What we can do is, stand up for what is right and be the change we want to see. Rallies and marches are occurring all over the country, join one. There are several petitions floating around the Internet, sign one. Don't just Facebook or tweet about it, be about it.

If you do not know your history, you are doomed to repeat it. Let's not lose another sister or brother to senseless violence. Can we all just get along? We can all get along, when Blacks, Whites, Asians, and Indians are all treated with equal respect. Until then....no justice, no peace.