Finding Justice for George Floyd
by HECTOR R.
It was a regular Wednesday afternoon for me during quarantine just relaxing at home. When bored I tend to scroll through social media like Instagram. While looking on Instagram I saw a video of Black man being posted on everyone’s page. At first I didn’t want to watch the clip because I've seen this movie a hundred times already and I saw where it was heading. After not being able to scroll on Instagram all day without the video popping up, I finally clicked on it and watched. I was very disturbed and shocked to see that another innocent black man was murdered in broad daylight by a police officer.
Remember, at that time there were thousands and thousands of people getting sick from coronavirus and dying. I wondered, why would the police want to hurt an innocent man during these crucial times that everyone is going through.
Not even a week later people started marching again for an innocent Black man killed by a police officer. This time the victim's name was George Floyd and the goal with this march was to get justice. When scrolling through Instagram I saw protests going on in his hometown Minneapolis, then they went to North Carolina, Atlanta, California, finally New York and almost everywhere else in the world. Even though the world was in a pandemic I felt the need to march for George Floyd. Watching videos of his killing made me furious and heartbroken, but at the same time made me want to do what was right. The next day I texted my friends and asked them if they wanted to go to one of the Black Lives Matter protests and they said, “yeah, why not.” When we met up we all had signs and marched all the way from downtown to uptown Manhattan. During the protest people played music, yelled chants like, “Black lives matter!’ “I can’t breathe!”and “Justice for George Floyd!”
The following week the cop that killed George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, was released on bail and was walking as a free man. Hearing this news made me confused and angry once again because if the roles were reversed or George Floyd were a white man he wouldn’t even have been in that predicament. This made the world more infuriated and caused riots and more protests to go on for weeks. At one point in time it felt like the world was falling into shambles and no president, governor or police officer could stop the people from using their voice. Many people would disagree and say the riots were pointless, but what more do Black people need to do to get justice after decades and decades of being stepped on and disrespected.
Finally on April 20th, Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges. Justice was served and the world, including me, got what we wanted. The world celebrated with mini parades and marches. After years of letting police officers do what they wanted to do, this felt good because it showed to other cops in the future that they won’t get away with killing an innocent Black man again.
Living through the pandemic and then the George Floyd case was an insane experience. It made me learn a lot and it also made me gain a lot of knowledge about myself. Last year took a turn for the worst forcing us to stay home, but when we started protesting for something that was right, we surprisingly got justice. Even though we got justice there’s many people that didn’t… Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor and many more. This was just a first step, but a first step that needed to be taken for our present and the future.
Works Cited
“George Floyd: What Happened in the Final Moments of His Life” BBC News, 16 July 2020.
Rahim, Zamira & Rob Piceta. “Thousands Around the World Protest George Floyd’s Death in Global Display of Solidarity.” BBC News, 1 June 2021.
Uptigrove, Meghanne. “Behind the Violence, Looting & Vandalism During the Black Lives Matter Riots.” TodayVille Calgary, 1 July 2020.
Wamsley, Laurel. “Derek Chauvin Found Guilty of George Floyd’s Murder.” NPR, 20 April 2021.
Remember, at that time there were thousands and thousands of people getting sick from coronavirus and dying. I wondered, why would the police want to hurt an innocent man during these crucial times that everyone is going through.
Not even a week later people started marching again for an innocent Black man killed by a police officer. This time the victim's name was George Floyd and the goal with this march was to get justice. When scrolling through Instagram I saw protests going on in his hometown Minneapolis, then they went to North Carolina, Atlanta, California, finally New York and almost everywhere else in the world. Even though the world was in a pandemic I felt the need to march for George Floyd. Watching videos of his killing made me furious and heartbroken, but at the same time made me want to do what was right. The next day I texted my friends and asked them if they wanted to go to one of the Black Lives Matter protests and they said, “yeah, why not.” When we met up we all had signs and marched all the way from downtown to uptown Manhattan. During the protest people played music, yelled chants like, “Black lives matter!’ “I can’t breathe!”and “Justice for George Floyd!”
The following week the cop that killed George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, was released on bail and was walking as a free man. Hearing this news made me confused and angry once again because if the roles were reversed or George Floyd were a white man he wouldn’t even have been in that predicament. This made the world more infuriated and caused riots and more protests to go on for weeks. At one point in time it felt like the world was falling into shambles and no president, governor or police officer could stop the people from using their voice. Many people would disagree and say the riots were pointless, but what more do Black people need to do to get justice after decades and decades of being stepped on and disrespected.
Finally on April 20th, Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges. Justice was served and the world, including me, got what we wanted. The world celebrated with mini parades and marches. After years of letting police officers do what they wanted to do, this felt good because it showed to other cops in the future that they won’t get away with killing an innocent Black man again.
Living through the pandemic and then the George Floyd case was an insane experience. It made me learn a lot and it also made me gain a lot of knowledge about myself. Last year took a turn for the worst forcing us to stay home, but when we started protesting for something that was right, we surprisingly got justice. Even though we got justice there’s many people that didn’t… Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor and many more. This was just a first step, but a first step that needed to be taken for our present and the future.
Works Cited
“George Floyd: What Happened in the Final Moments of His Life” BBC News, 16 July 2020.
Rahim, Zamira & Rob Piceta. “Thousands Around the World Protest George Floyd’s Death in Global Display of Solidarity.” BBC News, 1 June 2021.
Uptigrove, Meghanne. “Behind the Violence, Looting & Vandalism During the Black Lives Matter Riots.” TodayVille Calgary, 1 July 2020.
Wamsley, Laurel. “Derek Chauvin Found Guilty of George Floyd’s Murder.” NPR, 20 April 2021.
