#BlackLivesMatter

Whether young (Tamir Rice was 12 with a toy gun when he was shot by the police in 2014), or older (Alton Sterling was 37 and his children had to watch a video of him being killed online some days ago), often unarmed black men and women are being shot and killed by the police, and nothing is (systematically) being done about it. The new age of the internet and camera phones makes it easier for all of us to see the injustice that is happening, particularly in America, and it seems as though it’s happening so often now that everyone is just getting used to it. As the saying goes – we are well and truly still in chains.

#BlackLivesMatter, and not because all lives don’t matter, but because for being black, you can be murdered by the police for doing nothing. These police can get away with saying they felt “threatened”, and even horrifically auction off the gun they used to shoot you afterwards as they walk away free (this happened to Treyvon Martin this year). Unfortunately, if you don’t understand that, and you are an ‘All Lives Matter’ advocate – you are part of the problem.

Essentially, we need a systematic change. But, what can we do? As influencers, bloggers, YouTubers, or anything else under the sun – whether you have 100 followers or 100,000 followers – you have a platform. Your followers will be looking to see what you have to say, and if you can, use the platform you have for the greater good. Whether or not you are black, protest peacefully, let our voices be heard, and if you come into injustice yourself, take out your camera, and let the world see what is happening. I am really getting tired of having to say RIP to another black person being shot to be killed for truly unnecessary reasons – something needs to change.