Black Lives Matter...

Black Lives Matter Too!

Why, you ask?

Because it is a common idea and belief among many members of the Black community that our lives do not matter. This did not stem from one isolated incident but CENTURIES of mistreatment. Black people feel and fear that our lives don’t matter and that is what people who opposed BLM in the early days don’t get.

But if we were to say, "Black Lives Matter, Too," there would be no misinterpreting that in any way possible. And, what is more, if All and Blue Lives Matter sympathizers still did not get the message or continue to re-twist the narrative, as they so often do, then we would be able to call them out for what they are: willfully blind and ignorant people who do not want to hear black and brown folk speaking harsh truths about this country. Ever.

When one says "All Lives Matter" what they are really saying is, "I negate your concerns and I deflect you elsewhere because I can’t hear this from you now." It tries to replace the discussion about the injustices faced by black and brown people in America with the argument "it’s tough all around so what you said doesn’t count."

It does count. It does matter.

Most racists don’t want anyone to know they're racist except the people they’re racist against. In early 20th century America, it was fashionable to be racist, because most of the people running the Federal and state governments were usually indifferent to racism or racists themselves. So, it is not hard to imagine that everyday people felt they had the right to act horribly toward non-white Americans. Because there was no major punishment awaiting when they did… not really.

What is more, we have not had a single politician really take a hard look at the racial climate of this country since LBJ in 1965. But, of course, that did little good as LBJ himself was a typical Southern racist himself. There has been nothing done for Black people in this country since we got here, despite centuries of cries and pleas for human decency. What is worse… is that we had a Black President in office for eight years, who did far more for other marginalized groups than he ever did for Black people.

Only a slew of drastically reformed legislation must be achieved to help fix what has for so long been broken in this country: Black life in America. Even a Black celebrity worth millions, if not billions, still does not have the same rights, in the eyes of racists and several state governments, that poor white people do.

This… cannot… continue.

Otherwise, what in the actual fuck are we doing here?

Why do we have a Declaration of Independence that reads “All men are created equal” when we know we are not? And a Constitution that promises “The pursuit of Happiness” to people… not property, which is what all slaves were at the time the Constitution was written and ratified.

Those articles of a time period long since passed should be removed from the pedestals the bloodstained white hands place them upon.

Revolution is upon us, ladies and gentlemen. We, as the people of this land, have every right to topple our own government when we all can agree they have failed us.

Lives will be lost. The cost will be high. But at the end of the tunnel… there will be freedom, and light.

Right now, we are at the dawn of a new Dark Age, and it must come to an end before we become too accustomed to the dark and slowly, but surely, forget what the light looks like.

So, if you take nothing from this article, take this: This is America. And we are Americans. We all have a responsibility and a duty to defend it. Against all enemies. Both foreign… and… domestic.