IS BLACK LIVES MATTER A GOOD MOVEMENT?



My heart grows heavy as I continue to see the violence and disconnect between Americans of different backgrounds. Sometimes I get so drained and exhausted from keeping up with current events, I actually turn my phone off for days at a time in order to avoid anymore emotional distress.

Recently, with police brutality and the "BLACK LIVES MATTER" movement, I have seen some very beautiful moments of white and black people coming together, as well as some not so nice moments.

For example, a black teen and a white teen who were complete strangers, went to a protest and ended up becoming friends, holding signs together to signify their unity. After all, we are all the same. We are all human and we are all equal.

Another example of something beautiful-- citizens standing in front of officers in order to dissuade anyone from shooting them... Which gets me on to the not so beautiful points.

People have been shooting innocent, kind-hearted cops in the name of this movement. In all honesty, it really just dirties the name. You cannot protest unjust violence with more unjust violence.

There will always be corrupt officers. Just as there will always be corrupt people- corrupt government, corrupt business owners, corrupt military officials, corrupt teachers. People are innately bad. This is undebatable. However, we have the choice as to whether or not we want to be clumped into this group of evil people.

Hurting others is wrong. It will never be right. I'm not trying to take a stance on whether the cops should have used deadly forced in recent cases or whether they should be prosecuted. That is not for us to decide. It is for the justice system. Only you can choose how you handle yourself. You should do it in the name of good.