Black Lives Matter
By: Sydney Alexis Weinshel
Tags: Washington DC, Racial Justice, Civil Rights, Black Lives Mater, Racial Equality

Black Lives Matter

[Originally published on August 31, 2020]

As I sit down to write this, 3 days since I participated in the Commitment March on Washington, I am still reeling from the experience. If you don’t know, the Commitment March took place on August 28th, 2020 which was the 57th anniversary of the historical March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Speakers included Martin Luther King III, his daughter Yolanda King, Reverend Al Sharpton, and affected families of police violence.

The purpose of the march was to call on Congress to act on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the George Floyd Police Reform Act, as well as to demand an end to systemic racism in America. Rev. Al Sharpton told the crowd, “They keep telling me about how it’s a shame that Black parents have to have ‘the conversation’ with our children. How we have to explain if a cop stops you, don’t reach for the glove compartment, don’t talk back. The conversation. Well, we’ve had the conversation for decades. It’s time to have a conversation with America,” Sharpton said. “We need to have a conversation about your racism, about your bigotry, about your hate, about how you would put your knee on our neck while we cry for our lives. We need a new conversation.”

I was in attendance as an ally, along with my mom, cousins, aunt, and stray friend we picked up in the parking lot of the DC metro. She was attending the march alone and we invited this stranger to join us. In retrospect, this felt even more fitting than it did on Friday. The day was about unity and this stranger-turned-friend personified the experience.

It was close to 100 degrees and many of us sat with our feet in the Reflecting Pool, mirroring the protesters of 1963. It was silent less for the speakers standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I have participated in BLM marches before and have called for police reform and an end to systematic racism, but this was different. This felt grander. The spirit of the 1963 march hung in the air.

There was a heavy emphasis placed on the importance of voting in the 2020 election, not just at the top of the ballot, but all the way down to the bottom, because change will not just be spearheaded in the White House. The change will be made when we reform all aspects of our government and we need to vote in people who will champion that change. Every speaker implored us to vote. There were volunteers canvassing the entire march asking if you’d registered to vote and offering assistance to those who needed to register.

Rep. John Lewis, who died in July, was the youngest and last living speaker at the 1963 march. His legacy was referenced often as each speaker reiterated the importance of calling on Congress to act on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. His famous words were all around us. “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

While our purpose for marching was dark, filled with death and longing and lost dreams, the crowd was in a celebration. It was a celebration of the lives lost like George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, and so many others. Their deaths will not go unnoticed. They will not be forgotten. It was a celebration of the power of black culture. The resilience of this community.

Once the speakers concluded, we marched from the Lincoln Memorial to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. People were singing and gathering and playing music below the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. The space felt hopeful and alive. It felt like change was being made at that moment, a new America was being shaped, and we were altering the course of history.

I ask each of you reading to do your part in the fight for racial justice and equality. I ask that you educate yourself and ask the hard questions. Allow yourself to be checked and check other people. Get uncomfortable.

We are the generation that will enact change. We will no longer stand by while our friends and neighbors are murdered by our tax dollars. All lives cannot matter until black lives matter. There is no excuse. The systematic oppression of the people who built this country will no longer be allowed to remain unchecked. We will dismantle it piece by piece, passing on these stories to the next generation so they can continue the work. It stops with us.