More than 40 years ago I was a member of a young generation who took to the streets to protest for affirmative action and against the Vietnam War. Before me, my parents were part of the March on Washington---that eventually led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Now the torch has been passed on to my millennial daughter and Generation Z grandson who are among tens of thousands (perhaps millions) of people who have become part of a new uprising: Equal Justice under the Law.
AHMAUD ARBERY 2/23/20; BREONNA TAYLOR 3/13/20; GEORGE FLOYD 5/25/20
Who wasn't stunned, appalled, outraged, hurt, sad, or horrified by what they witnessed for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in a video on Memorial Day 2020? How many white people were downright ashamed or embarrassed by the actions of the white police officer? How many blacks were terrified that they, or someone they know, could become the next victim. The whole world has seen the video of Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on the neck of George Floyd (They called him Perry, Jr.) as he lay face down, handcuffed, and grasping for air. As a mother and grandmother of a young black male, I burst into tears upon hearing him call out for his "mama" after learning his mother had passed away two years ago.
26-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her own home by police after some phony drug sting and shot her eight times. 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was jogging when he was hunted down like an animal by two white vigilantes who claim they saw him steal something from a house under construction in their neighborhoods I was on grief and anger overload---just like the overwhelming majority of blacks. I felt compelled to pick up where I left off in the 1970's but because of COVID-19 and my underlying condition, I was limited in my outside activities. But then I started to see a shift. Young people everywhere were starting to take a stand against the injustices they were seeing, reading, and hearing about. Since the murder of Floyd, they have taken to the streets in droves and the beautiful thing is, depending on what city the media shows, young whites outnumber other races. And surprisingly, some of them are rising up against their own parents. While donald trump is running around professing to "make america great again" Millennials are saying the way to do that is to move forward not backwards. GenY, by the way, is the most racially and ethnically diverse population ever.
It will be up to our young people to carry the torch for REAL change. It will be up to them to be the change we all wish to see in this world (everyone except the white supremacists and evangelicals).
In 1971, Gill Scott Heron recorded a song called "The Revolution will Not be Televised." Here's a portion of those lyrics...
"You will not be able to stay home, brother
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag (heroin)
And skip out for beer during commercials, because
The revolution will not be televised..."
In 2020, the Revolution IS Televised!
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