Recently there has been talk all over Wakefield about Black Lives Matter. I cannot hold my tongue any longer. Having the opportunity to use my words to represent people through those words, whether it be my generation or my race, it would be wrong for me to not say anything.

Allow me to first start off with what the Black Lives Matter movement actually is. People who are not a part of the movement tend to create misconceptions about what the movement really is, based solely upon what they see in the media, which does a terrible job in portraying the movement. The Black Lives Matter movement is not a violent movement, nor should it be viewed as such. It is in fact a response to the violence poured out upon the black community at the hands of the police who are sworn to protect and serve. The ideas of this movement are not new, but they are modernized to fit the social issues African Americans face today. It only seems new because there has been growing uproar from cases such as Michael Brown and Sandra Bland, with each case adding more fuel to the movement’s fire.

Having covered the basic blanket meaning of the movement, I’ll address the phrase, “All Lives Matter.” Basically, it is a slap in the face to a black person. Why? If in fact, “All Lives Matter”, then why are there still wrongful deaths, unsubstantiated arrests, etc. on the black man? According to CNN on October 20, 2014, Laquan McDonald, a teenage black male, was shot 16 times by a police officer. The most unfortunate part of this case, excluding the fact that this was a death of a black male by a police officer, is the fact that this surfaced more than a year later. Yes, 16 gun shots is excessive, but when the fact that this even happened was hidden, it clearly displays how the police force deals with the black community. Not only did they kill a teenager, but created the story that McDonald went after the police and the officer’s defense was to fire.

When people say, “All Lives Matter”, what that means to the black community is, “You all have equal rights; therefore your argument is invalid, so get over it.” I know that those who use this phrase as a rebuttal to the Black Lives Matter Movement have good intentions, but they are actually doing more harm than good. It’s also like telling a cancer patient, who is raising awareness for their form of cancer that there are other diseases that matter too, and not just theirs. This phrase paints us protesters as a selfish group as we advocate for peace, equality, and justice.

Now, some people have come up with the argument of black-on-black crime and hate, which is quite a valid argument, and I do agree with it. How are we, the black community, going to advocate this movement, but roll our eyes at the next black girl that walks into the room or tries to fight another black guy based upon what he said on Twitter? How many times can we count on the school fights we’ve seen between black people? We say “Black Lives Matter” and are ready to jump down anyone’s throat who says otherwise, yet we bring each other down every day.  How can we as a community accuse everyone of wrongdoing, when we do wrong to each other?

All in all, the Black Lives Matter movement is not violent and its intentions were are not and have never been related to advocating such. But I also want my community, the black community, to consider the way treat each other. We cannot tell someone about a speck in their eye, when we have a plank in ours. It has been over fifty years since the Civil Rights Act has been passed, and this is still an issue. If we all don’t come to a full common understanding from all ends of the spectrum, this will continue to be an issue that will plague us for more years to come.