The Altonsterling: A Short Story

A neighbor guardian who was given clear direction not to seek after a “criminal” by police kills a 17-year-old kid, yet they need to know why we protest? Stunning. This is the moment when you got so angry all you could do is laugh. Its astounding to see how many people are willing to step over the corpse of African Americans and not change an expression but send a kid who rapes an unconscious black woman to jail for 3 months and its the saddest moment in history. Thinking back to when Jesse Williams spoke words of color when he said, "Just because we're magic, doesn't mean we're not real" I realize that we truly are magic and to them; it's a threat that we're learning that. The more we learn about ourselves and the more we see through the corrupt of the government and the more we will beat a system that was never implied for us. Malcolm X once said, "If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything". Malcolm was assassinated in 1965 and these words speak volumes today just as much as it did 51 years ago. It is absolutely clear that as a black individual living in this United States of America, you are always at

In the weeks that followed the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of the Baltimore police, a group of protestors known as BlackLivesMatter, gathered with the intentions of demanding public awareness over the persistent discrimination and violence that African Americans are subjected to by Police Officers around the Country. Following Mr. Gray’s death, on April 25th of 2015, a small number of protestors attending the B.L.M. protest turned an otherwise non-violent protest into a violent bout of civil disorder which led to several dozen arrests, an estimated 15 officer injuries and mass rioting, looting and burning of the local businesses including a CVS pharmacy. Ultimately, a state of emergency was declared and the National Guard was brought in to resolve the conflicts.

Beginning with Alton Sterling, the video depicts the man immediately being hit and thrown to the ground, but there is a foreshadowing story to this. Apparently, a witness said the police were called because Mr. Sterling was selling CD’s outside, and the gas station owner saw it as loitering. Following this, the recorded confrontation happened where the police held him down and shot him. Not only was this an unarmed man, but this was an African-American man, and this police vs black conflict has been very apparent as of late. Now for Mr. Sterling, may athletes took to twitter, for example, NBA player Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) tweeted: “Innocent lives man.. No restart button on life. People are taking lives like they're playing a video game.. HAS TO STOP! #AltonSterling” and Colin Kaepernick (@kaepernick7) followed up on Instagram, “This is what

Civil rights groups are not a new thing in the United States, but after the disputed case of Trayvon Martin who was killed by George Zimmerman, the movement has been growing tumultuously. After Martin’s death, hundreds of high school teens began protesting, demanding both Zimmerman and chief police be fired. With the help of social media, Umi Selah and other activists were able to organize a forty-mile march from Daytona Beach to the headquarters of Sanford Police Department (the department that dealt with Martin and Zimmerman’s case.) The march lasted four days and ended in a five-hour blockade of the Sanford Police Department’s door. This organized protest was just the beginning of what quickly became the Black Lives Matter movement (McClain 2016).

There is usually a protest after an unarmed black person is killed by a police officer. By protesting, they try to seek attention to shooting of black people by disrupting commerce and preventing people from commuting to one place to another. After Alton Sterling and Philando Cartile were shot by a police officer, the Black Lives Matter marched on the streets and blocked highways in July 2016 in Minnesota. In December 2015, they even disrupt local business on a busy holiday shopping with peaceful protest. Despite getting warnings, the Black Lives Matter organization gathered in a Minnesota Mall. They compelled some of the stores to be closed for hours. They said there will not be any business until they get

Ernie has always been a little messed up, he has lived in Missouri for the 32 long years of his life. On the day that changed his life forever, November 22, 1996. Him and his family were driving to the mall and they got into an accident. His Mom and

The riots in Ferguson were not called for because they only led to the destruction of the city and the arrest of protesters. They accomplished nothing and took away from the reason of the riots, Michael Brown’s unjust death. Protesters that stood peacefully and chanted “Black Lives Matter” had a greater effect as they stood across the country (Healy).

As of the end of June, five-hundred forty-seven people have been killed by police in 2015 alone. Freddie Carlos Gray, Jr. or more commonly known as just Freddie Gray, was amongst nine-teen (3.4 percent) of those four-hundred forty-seven people that died after an altercation in police custody. On April 12th

Black lives matter protests have been seen all over America many have turned violet causing death or injuries. The latest one is was in Utah where a 50-year-old man Patrick Harmon was shot dead by a Utah police officer after he was trying to run away from the officer. The district attorney called the shooting justified, officers were scared for their lives even though Patrick Hermon was running in the opposite direction. On Wednesday after the district attorney made his decision saying the shooting was justified a video of Patrick Harmon was released. In the video, you can clearly hear officer Clinton Fox yelling “ I’ll blanking shot you” right before Clinton Fox fires three bullets in Patrick Harmons back. Black lives matter organizer

This demonstration was known as the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. (7) This demonstration took place in 1966. (7) African-American people wanted to make a stand from police violence and they wanted stricter laws for their own benefits. (7) This demonstration has impacted our world greatly today and has made it easier for African-American people to share their thoughts and beliefs without being harmed. (7) This movement was completely associated with the civil rights act, however it started as this movement but then when policeman joined the trouble everything went downhill. (10) Policeman caused racial issues to arise and this lead to terrible police brutality examples. (10) Thus, policeman were hitting and hurting this innocent African-American people because of what they were standing up for and because of their skin tone and the stereotypes that American citizens had made for them.

More than three years after the Ferguson unrest, a group of protesters once again marched down the streets of the St. Louis suburb. About several dozen people were chanting and carrying “Black Lives Matter” signs on Friday night, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. During the otherwise peaceful protest, some individuals burnt an American flag. A group of protestors are seen on video standing around the burning flag while repeatedly chanting "we can't take it no more." The video was posted to social media by Daniel Shular, a freelance photojournalist. The original protests were prompted by the death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, who was shot by Darren Wilson, a white police

In 1964, unalienable rights were not given to African Americans, though it was stated in our constitution. Malcolm X made a speech in Cleveland, Ohio, called The Ballot or the Bullet, about this major issue and what needs to be done to ratify this issue. At this point in history African Americans have tried numerous times for a non-violent protest-- nothing has worked for them. Through his use of emotional appeals, ethical appeals, and allusion, he persuades the audience that African Americans that they need to take a stand for their rights, if that means being violent.

On the Jersey Shore, trouble started roughly around 8 p.m. It started when Miss Dolores Shannon, a 26 years old, African American, was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge. According to the police, she was drunk and had been shouting and screaming. As they were taking her into custody, a man sooner identified as Walker Mays was said to have been interfering with the police and as a result he was also arrested. They were both taken to the Fourth Precinct station house at Com­munipaw Avenue. After word got out of the arrest, soon afterward, about 40 African Americans marched to the station house, chanting charges of police bru­tality. As it died down the crowd started to leave about a half an hour later. However, returning at about 10 P.

Big corporations such as Paypal and The NBA have contributed to the the protest to show support to the LBGTQ community. According to a video on USAtoday.com, Paypal CEO explains their reasoning behind revoking their expansion to Charlotte,

Columbia University was a place of great tension between students and university staff in 1968. Students, some as young as late teenagers, protested against the school with strikes and sit-ins, and the situation escalated to the point where the university chose to use the New York Police Department force the