It took one breath for my childhood to end. My childhood died with Eric Garner as he pleaded for his life. It wasn’t until the day, I heard about a trending video of the murder of Eric Garner. The words he shouted still haunts me to this day, constantly going in the background “I can’t breathe”. His death made everything that I had experienced become so real. HIs tragic death put my life experiences in perspective. What I used to considered the norm was actually a disadvantage. I thought it was normal not to have electricity and to see my mother crying over not being able to provide for her family. I never questioned why all the adults in my life had not gone to college.
I found the idea of talking about systematic oppression that is ingrained …show more content…
I began to ask myself how can a system get away with murder in broad daylight and justify it because a man is trying to sell loose cigarettes to help his family survive. His death caused me to take a step in adulthood, I began to see the world in a different light. My peachy community had gone rotten, when I realized I wasn't benefiting but I realized I was being brainwashed to believe that my people are criminals rather than the system trying to imprison them for false pretenses. Growing up, all the adults in my life installed in my head it's better to work a job that you don’t like in order to be stable rather than being happy. They also discouraged the idea of questioning authority. My naive belief that people choose to buy unhealthy food because they wanted to save money became ridiculous to me, Most importantly, hearing “racism is over” really disturbed me. Like I honestly couldn't breathe and which had me questioning what I was doing in my life. The only time I felt liberated and free is when I became actually aware of societal oppression. I was finally able to breathe when I was walking down the streets with my soul sisters and brothers beside me screaming Black Lives
I found the idea of talking about systematic oppression that is ingrained …show more content…
I began to ask myself how can a system get away with murder in broad daylight and justify it because a man is trying to sell loose cigarettes to help his family survive. His death caused me to take a step in adulthood, I began to see the world in a different light. My peachy community had gone rotten, when I realized I wasn't benefiting but I realized I was being brainwashed to believe that my people are criminals rather than the system trying to imprison them for false pretenses. Growing up, all the adults in my life installed in my head it's better to work a job that you don’t like in order to be stable rather than being happy. They also discouraged the idea of questioning authority. My naive belief that people choose to buy unhealthy food because they wanted to save money became ridiculous to me, Most importantly, hearing “racism is over” really disturbed me. Like I honestly couldn't breathe and which had me questioning what I was doing in my life. The only time I felt liberated and free is when I became actually aware of societal oppression. I was finally able to breathe when I was walking down the streets with my soul sisters and brothers beside me screaming Black Lives