A Reflection on Black Lives Matter

On Thursday, February 23, 2017 I went to a rally at UVM's Davis Center. Black Lives Matter in the Era of Trump was a segment of the Will Miller Social Justice Lecture Series that UVM hosts in remembrance of Will Miller, a loved professor that empowered many students throughout UVM's campus in his 35 years of teaching there.

Miller's body passed away in 2005, but his strive for equality and social justice lives on through his soul and the people he left a mark on. The slogan for Miller's website reads, "He will always be remembered as a clear voice in a world of false words and disinformation." After attending the talk at UVM, it was clear that this idea and Miller's expressions were still alive in the opinions of the speaker, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.

Taylor is currently a professor at Princeton University in the Department of African American Studies. She is also the profound author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation. Throughout her speech, Taylor referenced the issues that have been going on throughout America, not only in this most recent era of Donald Trump's reign, but in previous years as well. As Taylor was clearly outraged and concerned about the racism that surrounds us, she supported her emotions with facts that moved me. Taylor said Trump is not focusing on this issue at hand, and instead is leading up farther away and changing the topic to hide what really matters.
According to Taylor's research, there are rising shootings throughout the United States. Specifically in Chicago, 4,379 people were shot last year. Of those people, 797 of them were killed. Does this number have anything to do with the fact that the majority of those people were African American, and that 25% of African Americans in Chicago are unemployed? Chicago seems to be the most segregated city in the United States, and instead of doing anything about it, Trump is making the situation worse.
There are 400 billionaires in the United States and 45 million people in poverty. Taylor said, "We are told black criminals are the reason to poverty," but this is only because the 400 billionaires are running our country and are only being innocent bystanders.
Although I agreed with Taylor on the majority of her opinions throughout her speech, there were a few bits that triggered my opposing opinion. Yes, I think it is unfortunate that we have a president that seems to be racist and sexist amongst a bunch of other horrible things, but I do not believe that police officers are not helping the country like Taylor stated. She said, "Police are racist agents of the state; they don't help." I understand that with police shootings becoming increasingly newsworthy, there is controversy over this topic. However, I don't think they are to blame for this issue. I think that police are trying their hardest to help our country. It is their duty to keep us safe, so why would they try to hurt us? I think that police officers are doing their job, and therefore, I disagreed on this one bit that Taylor proclaimed.
Overall, I thought the speech was empowering and helped our society by gathering hundreds of people together to discuss one of many issues we are all facing together.