By Sarah, 13, New York
You fit the description! Don’t move! Stand still! Put your hands up! Get on the ground! Stop resisting …
We hear you! But do you hear us? Are we that threatening? Why is my skin so scary?
That’s my phone, not a gun!
What gives you the right to take one’s life?
Please don’t let me die! I can’t breathe I don’t have a gun. Stop shooting I can’t breathe…
Do you remember us?
Eleanor Bumpers — 1984
Margaret Mitchell — 1999
Amadou Diallo 1999
Sean Bell -2006
Oscar grant — 2009
Kenneth Chamberlain — 2011
Trayvon Martin — 2012
Kimani Gray — 2013
Eric Garner — 2014
Michael Brown — 2014
Tamir Rice — 2014
Sandra Bland — 2015
Freddie Gray — 2015
Philando Castile — 2016
Stephon Clark — 2018
Breona Taylor- 2019
Amaud Aubry — 2020
George Floyd — 2020
Patrick Warren -2021
And the list goes on …
Why can’t you hear us as we take our last breath, as we beg for mercy and call our mothers, fathers, and God?
As you watch our bodies stiffen, do you know how many families you’ve broken! Do you know how many dreams you’ve stolen!
Is it that you don’t care because the juror is likely to find you not guilty!
When will enough be enough? When will you hear our cries? When will you see us? Who will be next?
This is for the kid with the hoodie and Skittles
This is for the kid with the toy gun just having fun.
This is for the kid visiting relatives in Money.
This is for the little princess whose life was cut short.
This is for the girl who just wanted to ask for help.
This is for the man whose wife and daughter saw him take his last breath.
This is for the man whose blood watered his grandmother’s grass.
This is for the man who couldn’t take a jog
This is for the people who couldn’t go to church… whose blood stained their bibles, baby blankets, and Sunday best.
This is for all the Black bodies that hung like “Strange Fruit” decorating trees while some went on celebrating.
This is for all of our fallen Black souls whose lives will never matter nor will that of future generations, if we remained silent.
My generation is not tolerating White Hate and Rage!
Do you see us now? Do you hear us now? Enough is Enough cuz your time is up!
