Why The Events in Ferguson are Important
It’s been more than three weeks since the killing of yet another black adolescent and more than two-and-a-half years since 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a Miami Gardens resident, was shot and killed by neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman.
This time, it was Michael Brown’s life that was ended too soon by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. As a reaction, hundreds of Ferguson residents took their rage into the street in protest Mr Brown’s killing.
The death of this young man sheds light on the racial tension that still prevails in this country.
It also reinvigorates the consideration that police officers are overstepping certain boundaries.
According to a recent Miami Herald article, a group of social activists held a series of demonstrations inside the U.S. Attorney’s office located in Downtown Miami. The protesters demanded the completion of the investigation in the death of local graffiti artist Israel “Reefa” Hernandez, who was killed by a Miami Beach police officer a year ago for spray painting the walls of an abandoned McDonald’s.
Miami Dade College student, Ricky Constable, said that these types of encounters between black men and women and police officers make him insecure.
“Black people are not safe anymore,” Constable said.
A similar sentiment is shared by Sasha Saunders, a recent Miami Dade College graduate. She fears that one of her brothers could be the next victim of a police officer’s unmeasured use of lethal force. She is well aware that this situation is happening in her city; she recounts the time police hostilely asked her brother who was out on an evening run to identify himself for no apparent reason.
We have to be aware of issues such as the school-to-prison pipeline, the militarization of police forces, the media’s portrayal of people of color, and the gentrification of our neighborhoods. This is not the first time our communities are being targeted by police.
As community members, we should hold accountable those who are in power. This is a prime opportunity to show how they are affecting us.
