As Restoring The Peace's first shirt we decided that we wanted to help our friends and family fight racial injustice in America. This month’s proceeds for the “And Countless Others” T-Shirt will be donated to the Colors of Change organization which is one of the largest online racial justice organizations looking to end the war on black people in our country.
Black people, both men, and women have been dying at the hands of police for decades. Recently, with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Aurbery, the topic of racial inequality and police brutality has been amplified even more so than it has ever been. Nationwide protests have taken place in support of the Black Lives Matter as people are opening their eyes to civil injustices black people have been facing since the inception of this country. Now, when we say Black Lives Matter, the common retort is usually All Lives Matter. Yes, All Lives do matter, however, it is black lives that are being the most affected at this current time. Black people are killed at the hands of police at almost 3 times the rate than their counterparts.
The chilling video of George Floyd’s murder is one of many videos that have gone viral in relation to the BLM movement. These videos are also a key factor to the overall outrage many people feel in regards to what is happening because, despite the video evidence, most of these murderers tend to see no jail time or any real repercussions for their actions. What makes matters even more chilling is that there are so many more victims whose deaths weren’t caught on video, whose name did not become a hashtag and whose story has yet to be told, hence “And Countless Others.” It is important to understand that while this has become a major talking point in recent years, police brutality has always been affecting the black community.
Another common response to Black Lives Matter is the topic of black on black crime. However, crimes against one’s race are prevalent amongst all races and are not exclusive to the black community. In addition, black on black crime is not a race issue, i.e, black people are not killing other black people due to the color of their skin. However, we see time and time again, police killing black men and women, who at times are unarmed even and pose no threat, creating the illusion that the real threat was their skin color. These are uncomfortable conversations to have, but they are important to further discuss the impact that systemic racism and oppression has been and continues to plague this country.
Restoring The Peace aims to bring light to these issues happening in our society and all over the world so that they remain at the forefront of people’s minds. This is a battle for equality for all and in order for this to be achieved, we all must continue to stay informed and diligent on making a difference as best as we can.