This essay is part of a Youth Voice series on the one-year mark of the police killing of George Floyd. An introduction to this series can be viewed here.
I feel like the tragic death of George Floyd impacted our Black and brown communities and our youth the most. I feel good and bad about the situation. As we all know, the death of George was a tragic and devastating event that took place one year ago here in my hometown of Minneapolis. It was the first time in my life I had seen my community come together to fight a hard battle, as one, and get the outcome we wanted for many years. It took us losing many sisters and brothers to finally get justice, and it means the world to me.
But I also have to remind my fellow brothers and sisters that it is not over. We still need more justice and have to continue to fight, because as we see, the war between our people and law enforcement isn’t ending anytime soon. While the Chauvin trial was going on, we faced more tragedy: A dear friend of mine, Daunte Wright, lost his life in Brooklyn Center due to law enforcement versus our kind.
Then, nine days later, 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was killed by police in Ohio the day Chauvin’s guilty verdict was read. It makes me so sick to know that we can’t even be comfortable in our skin because we are constantly in fear that we will be the next victim of police violence. I think it’s time to abolish the police and let our communities handle the protection of citizens.