I remember walking away from my family when we visited Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. I was so overcome with sorrow as I walked around and thought about the nine people senselessly murdered during their worship service on June 17, 2015. I cried like a baby as I tried to make sense of this senseless act. The only thing I could come up with is that the hate for people who look like me (i.e. Black people) still runs so deep in our country.
On May 14, 2022, the hate for black people reared its head yet again. In Buffalo, New York, an 18-year-old white male ambushed a grocery store in a predominantly black neighborhood, murdering ten black people. As I read and watched the news coverage, I felt the same sorrow and sense of hopelessness I felt in 2015, after learning about the massacre in South Carolina.
I have avoided conversations about these horrific acts lately because, to be quite honest, they are too painful for me. Today I want to make sure I set aside my pain, frustration, and confusion and take a moment to pay respect to those murdered on May 14, 2022, by simply sharing their names with you. That is the least I can do.
- Ruth Whitfield, 86
- Roberta Drury, 32
- Aaron Salter, 55
- Heyward Patterson, 67
- Pearl Young, 77
- Geraldine Talley, 62
- Celestine Chaney, 65
- Katherine Massey, 72
- Margus Morrison, 52
- Andre Macknell, 53
The hate still runs deep, and our country can no longer ignore this.
Much Love,
Tonza
Hey councilor…… I am not sure we are ignoring it…… It has been a TOO S L O W PROCESS, that keeps rearing it’s racist head with the ending of Black lives…… That is why our life matters…. And, with folks like you & others that march and write about it, that puts it at the fore front of the American news cycle because we TRULY care about our life. Why? Because Black Lives Matter….. Love you much Tonza……
You are 100% right, it’s been going on for way to long. Not to mention it should have never started. The $6400 question is how do we get the ball rolling as a extremely large group and turn the minds around of those who still have hatred by grouping people.