I saw a post the other day discussing the All vs. Black Lives Matter topic. It read, "All Lives Matter is like I go to the doctor for a broken arm and he says, 'All bones matter.' OK, but right now let's take care of this broken one." Yes, the conversation of whether or not All Lives Matter is, to be blunt, kind of dumb considering that yes, in fact, every human being's life is critically important and valuable, but that's not the point. The point isn't whether or not every being matters because the answer is of course they do. The point is that there are human beings who are not being heard, who are being told they do not matter and are being shot in the driver's seat while a 4-year-old girl witnesses it from the back. The point is obvious: black lives matter. Why is this so difficult to comprehend?
It has gone on for too long. The time for it to be addressed seems like a moot point as it should have stopped when it started. Alton Sterling. It is no longer an argument that we should continue having, the battle of words forcing us to a standstill. Philando Castile. Where words ultimately seem to make no movements, we are replacing them with guns, murder, death, anger and hatred. Sandra Bland. If we aren't a part of it, there are those who mock the movement, lusting after the B in BLM and replacing it with nonsense such as WLM. Trayvon Martin. We have been trying to brush something so vitally crucial under the rug that the longer it stays there, the more pieces it gets shattered into, creating a devastating spiderweb in the mirror of our society. Travares McGill. We need to pay attention to the movement before another Dallas devastation occurs and the hand to turn back time, to undo it all, to start over, is missing because it was shot and buried six feet under.
Where do we go from here?
I was in a conversation the other night about the recent events in Texas, and before one girl said her opinion, she led with, "I don't like to talk about these kind of things because they make me uncomfortable, but..." This should not be something that left her mouth. Have an opinion, be brave, be loud, be proud of what you believe in, but do not hide behind something that makes you "uncomfortable" when you are in no way directly affected by it. Do not make excuses to avoid a topic simply because it makes you nervous or it's a "touchy" subject. That should be a time to discuss it, to talk it to death, to figure out what it is and why it's happening.
If we are constantly swerving around the things that we don't like to think about, what does this make us? What happens to the the people who are pleading, demanding, begging to be heard? The ones who are pounding at our front doors to listen, please just listen. Are we to just stare through the peephole and pray they go away, pray they stop, pray they shut their mouths?
This is not an article of police hate or black pride. This is an article of humanity. This is a plea to please stop looking the other way, to stop coming up with excuses, to stop raising a gun where your mouth should be. This is a reminder that yes, all lives will forever matter, but remember the ones whom we are shutting the door on.
