Time to Walk the Talk.

Four Minneapolis Police Officers are fired and an investigation is to be conducted by the BCA and FBI after video surfaces of George Floyd lying on the ground in cuffs while an officer continues to place his knee in the back of his neck and who later died.

As the news broke, I prepared myself for what was coming from friends, family and colleagues. There will be a request for dialogues to discuss the emotions we are experiencing, the thoughts we have and the action that we need to take. There will be demonstrations to express their outrage and demand justice for the victim. Individual’s will express on social media their sadness, outrage, disbelief and some might even make a call to action.

I wish I could express that I was feeling those same emotions, but I have become numb to it. I will patiently wait for our elected official and those in leadership to make impassioned speeches about how this is a sad event, that there is no place for this and how we are better than this, but we are not. This incident cannot be viewed in isolation.

The lack of trust by members of our community, not only in the legal systems but in all systems that govern our lives in the state of Minnesota, is the result of generations of systemic and institutional oppression. As someone who identifies as Chicano and a person of color, I don’t need your sympathy, outrage and whatever other emotions you are experiencing. I need you as elected officials and leaders in the community to walk the talk and to fundamentally examine and change the systemic issues that cause these tragedies to continue.