Covid-19 and the #BlackLivesMatter movement has had a lasting imprint on the minds and hearts of the class of 2020. Last month we asked a few students to share their thoughts and feelings about how the crisis has hit home in a way that can be absorbed by their peers. We are publishing short dialogues written by two seniors at Washington Prep High School who are part of a group of students that have also entered our youth mentorship program. Our high schoolers are learning the art of blogging as well as the ins and outs of social media engagement and online entertainment. Our teens are learning how to tell their stories in a way that captivates an online audience. If you would like to get involved and help train any of our students on a skill that translates within the online or entertainment space please send us an email.
If We Are Protesting Peacefully Why Is There Police Brutality?
To be honest… I’m stuck in the house my senior year and it seems like the world is going crazy. And I just want to do something and make my voice heard. My pen is my way to protest and to speak out.
Black Lives Matter. We shout it. We post it. We talk about it. We support it. A global protest often led by teens that will go down in history. This protest or better yet movement has brought the whole world together, to fight as one.
This is a matter that no one can ignore. Black people have been targeted for the longest. And communities are tired of it. In fact, while I am writing this a Black Lives Matter protest is occurring at this very instant.
Many of the protests include signs, chants, posting of awareness online, sharing within your network and marching. No one is staying quiet and more people are getting involved. Around the world you see peaceful protesters voicing their opinions.
According to one of my good friends, “It was a peaceful protest. You hear people chanting and marching. There was a moment of silence and prayer. People kneeled on one knee with their fists in the air.” My friend witnessed a peaceful protest in Manhattan Beach. No one was vandalizing or loitering. People just are voicing their opinions. And they have the right to.
I am sitting at home and from what I see on social media and the news, we witness mostly peaceful protests. But what comes with peaceful protesting? Police brutality. I am asking “Why the police brutality towards peaceful protesters?”
I know how I feel and “I can say that police brutality against protesters is beyond messed up. People are out here protesting for things that truly need to change and all of a sudden they wanna start tear gassing people and using rubber bullets.”
As we have witnessed on media, television, and in person, this is such a saddening display. The only objective that the actual protesters are trying to reach is voicing their anger and their opinion which is Black Lives Matter.
Why not let us voice without the violence? We have the right of freedom of speech yet that freedom is being taken from us. Why? It would be understandable if there was lottering and vandalism involved, but there isn’t any in many cases.
I believe that, “people shouldn’t suffer for using their voices. In fact, people shouldn’t suffer for their skin color. We are all people. It’s just saddening that even children are witnessing and suffering just like the adults.”
The whole world is affected by this protest. But we will not stay quiet. For this is a matter that should be heard and changed. We all are humans. Doesn’t matter what skin color they have. We cannot agree to “All Lives Matter” if black lives are always at stake.
For Los Angeles senior A. Garcia, her life abruptly changed as teacher after teacher announced that Covid-19 meant students would not be coming back to school after the upcoming weekend. Students were uncertain, wary and worried most of all about prom and what it meant for senior year. Many students wish they had known that last Friday would indeed be the last time they went to class before heading off into adulthood. A. Garcia stood by as she watch every senior memory she thought she would make never materialize as her friends headed outside to protest during a world wide pandemic.
For many the reality of adulthood came crashing down quicker and on the heels of world wide pandemic. A. Garcia is a paid intern with Cachet Digital and is being mentored as well. The mentorship program pulls in teens who are now able to develop real world experience that translates into an employable skillset even while being able to social distance. Hopefully you will keep up and follow along with how her story evolves this year.