A letter from August 17th, 2020

Dear Future Me, We had to do this for our history class with Mr. Byers. Today's date is 8/17/2020, and we're in the middle of a global pandemic. I'm 16 years old and a junior in high school. My best friends are Molly and Frankie. I guess we're supposed to write about the state of the world and what's going on. We have to wear masks whenever we go into stores and restaurants. Many people, especially in the south, complain about having to wear a piece of cloth on their face while they're in Walmart for fifteen minutes, and some don't have the common decency to wear one at all. There are like 150,000 cases in the United States, and the government is doing an awful job of containing it, and most Americans certainly aren't doind their part. But that's enough about COVID-19; I'm more concerned about the Black Lives Matter movement. I hope that the BLM protests are written about in the history textbooks, because we can no longer overlook them. George Floyd was ******** by four police officers. One, Derek Chauvin, knelt on George's neck for about eight minutes while watching him suffocate. George begged Chauvin to get off his neck, saying "Please, I can't breathe. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. They're going to **** me." Every officer at the scene ignored his pleas for his life. Bystanders begged and screamed for them to get off the poor man's neck, to let him live. They didn't; they ****** him in cold blood in front of a group of people. All of this was caused by George supposedly having a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. This sparked protests all over the United States, and even worldwide. When we mention these protests, now and probably in the future, the violence, looting, and rioting will be brought up. But only the violence that the protesters carried out will be talked about. We know the truth. We know that the police officers tear gassed PEACEFUL PROTESTERS. We know that UNDERCOVER COPS STARTED THE RIOTS, by breaking glass and setting buildings on fire. We know that the few "protesters" who became violent didn't care about the movement. They came just for the looting. People who don't support BLM will claim that riots don't solve anything, that peace is the answer. The country that they admire so much was founded off of riots and violence. On of the most important events of the founding of this country, the Boston Tea Party, was a riot. They claim peace is the answer, but we've been peaceful. That only got us so far. The police aren't peaceful. The justice system isn't peaceful. Fight fire with fire. The ***** of George Floyd brought attention to other race related crimes carried out by police. Breonna Taylor was a 26 year old EMT who was shot and ****** in her own home. The police were looking for other suspects in her apartment building. They forcefully entered her apartment, not in uniform, and ******** in her sleep. When they first broke in, Breonna's boyfriend exercised his Second Amendment rights, as many of us would. The police officers who ****** Breonna Taylor are Brett Hankison, Johnathan Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove. By the time I receive this letter, whether in three or five years, I haven't decided yet, I pray to God they have been arrested. If they haven't then that further proves that America thrives and flourishes because of the oppression and ******** of black people and other minorities. After moving out, have you attended any BLM protests? Have you used your privilege to protect someone who couldn't protect themselves (if the opportunity was there?) What else have you done for the movement? If you haven't done anything, haven't attended any protests, or stood by and watched a black person be harassed by police, then you've disappointed your past self. Think about if you were black, and your whole life you've witnessed racism against you and your family. What if it was you? What if it was your child? Your spouse? Silence benefits the oppressor, never the oppressed. Do what's right, and never stop. Sincerely, Lora