I stood in my living
room, too, as Reverend Al Sharpton asked the congregation to stand in
memory of George Floyd. It was the amount of time, 8 minutes and 46
seconds, it took for George Floyd to die at the hands of the Minneapolis
police officers for the sin of allegedly passing a counterfeit 20
dollar bill he, perhaps, never knew was counterfeit. The American
people never got to find out if he knew it was counterfeit or not. Even
if he did know was his life worth merely a 20 dollar bill, for the
amount of time it took Officer
Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, to give a death
press with his knee on the neck of George Floyd, a person of color? As a
metaphor to George Floyd it was an excruciating 8 minutes and 46
seconds but an effective way to memorialize him. He suffered of that we
can be sure. Derek Chauvin, after 7 days of continuous massive protest
of his unjust actions, was finally charged with murder 2 that charge to
the previous counts of
third-degree murder and manslaughter filed against Chauvin
along with three other Minneapolis officers who assisted in the take
down. The other three officers at the scene, are charged with
unintentional aiding and abetting second-degree murder as well as aiding
and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
I
am not writing this to give a summary of the fatal police action but to
say George Floyd probably knew he was going to die because he said
could not breathe but never knew he would stand with with so many others
in the 400 year eternity retelling the sad saga of crimes against the
humanity of black people in this allegedly Constitutional republic. He
will stand with other persons of color who were killed in an unjust
manner. The situations are different but the victims are all persons of
color killed by white cops before they ever got the chance to tell
their story. George Floyd will stand with Eric Garner, he will stand
with Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Walter Scott, Freddie
Gray, Ahmed Arbury, Breonna Taylor, an EMT (Louisville police officers
forced their way inside her apartment and "blindly fired" killing her.)
There are, of course, many other shoes in which George Floyd walked and
many more stories to tell.
There are others with whom George Floyd will stand. He will also stand
in the annals of black history with Emmet Till, Martin Luther King,
Malcolm X, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, as few examples of many. I
think this will be so because if there was ever a longer period of
protest in a pandemic yet and a more massive period of mourning for a
more relatable person to so many I do not know of it. The marches
crossed racial lines. It has been 8 days of marches, across fifty
states, an infinite amount of speeches, and 24/7 news coverage. It goes
on and on and rightfully so. Persons of color in this 450 year
national saga have endured the humiliation of slavery, the humiliation
of the Jim Crow south, the fury of voter suppression and infinite
accounts of police brutality for what crime? The crime of being black
and unlucky in this nation of historical racist pathology. If I could
have met George Floyd at the pearly gates I would tell him how much his
life meant. There may even be a final answer or at least some answer to
the never ending question of when will it stop?
Moreover,
the so called "president" of this nation without a doubt the most
corrupt, evil, racist, villain who insultingly said blacks just love him
when 83% of them say they would not vote for the disgusting slug,
besmirching the oval office is an insult to so many Americans. Nothing
touches Trump not even the COVID-19 virus to which he allegedly was
exposed and did not act against it in time to stop 104,100 deaths or to
soften its blow. George Floyd along with COVID-19 just may have
succeeded in finally stopping the creature from the bottom of the sea
from taking the last great hope for democracy down. I surely hope so.
To
the Floyd family I extend my heart felt condolences and hope they know
in their hearts the heights to which their son, brother, and father
soared. To the marchers I say keep on marching staying always vigilant
that neither a police department nor a corrupt president will ever be
placed in positions of huge power where they can take down everything
and everyone for which this nation has stood for nearly 250 years. May
George Floyd rest in peace!
