Monica

Five years ago today, George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight in an unpardonable, inhumane, dehumanizing act by police officer, Derek Chauvin, who nonchalantly pressed his knee into George’s neck for over nine minutes. NINE MINUTES. I am praying for George’s family, especially for his daughter, Gianna, who is now 11. Gianna’s “Daddy” matters to her. George’s life didn’t matter to Derek Chauvin. It still doesn’t matter to many today who make excuses for Derek’s brutality and even suggest pardoning the unpardonable. But George’s life mattered and still matters to millions, who responded to viewing that knee on his neck for nine minutes with protest and efforts for policy change in legislative halls and corporate suites. There were some positive results until there was what my father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called “white backlash.” In his book, ‘Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?,’ Daddy wrote: “The step backward has a new name today. It is called the “white backlash.” But the white backlash is nothing new. It is the surfacing of old prejudices, hostilities and ambivalences that have always been there. It was caused neither by the cry of Black Power nor by the unfortunate recent wave of riots in our cities. The white backlash of today is rooted in the same problem that has characterized America ever since the black man landed in chains on the shores of this nation. The white backlash is an expression of the same vacillations, the same search for rationalizations, the same lack of commitment that have always characterized white America on the question of race.” So, 5 years later, we continue to grapple with racism in this nation and globally. But we will persist in organizing, creating community, and remembering George and so many others who were deemed unworthy to even breathe in America…to even live free or live at all in a nation that convicted indigenous and Black people of being casualties of imperialism and colonialism hundreds of years ago. Let’s not give up on us, family. #GeorgeFloyd #BelovedCommunity #HopeIsHere 🖼️: @4NIKKOLAS

#BreonnaTaylor…We #SayHerName, as we pray for those who loved her before her name became a hashtag.. Breonna Taylor…We Say Her Name as a devastating reminder that racial injustice is not “un-American,” but it should be. Breonna Taylor…We Say Her Name as a call for and commitment to justice. “Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against Iove.” #MLK

What we needed today was a President who evoked compassion for families, mourning for the lives lost, and a unified commitment to the safety of travelers. Instead, what we experienced was a divisive, insensitive message, which lacked any factual basis for casting blame on DEI. The message evoked racism, discrimination, and continued misunderstanding of the intent of initiatives that did not dismiss merit and excellence, but ensured that merit and excellence were not dismissed in non-white, non-male, non-heterosexual, differently-abled people. We have a choice, America. We can educate and elevate ourselves beyond this. In doing so, we must cultivate and expect leadership that promotes dignity and creates an atmosphere for building the Beloved Community.