I will not let 2015 end without mentioning that there is no justice. In may respects this was a terrible year. As much as I try to live my life and write as much as I can, there are things happening in this country that trouble me.
Black Lives Matter.
I’m not going to describe once again how important it is to keep this going. At this point, you either get it or you don’t. Tamir Rice was 12 and was killed by police within 2 seconds of seeing him. He was playing with a toy gun and was considered armed and dangerous.
No indictments.
Sandra Bland was a woman pulled over for changing lanes with no turn signal. She was arrested and died in her jail cell for reason unknown.
No indictments.
Remember Walter Scott? Shot in the back by a police officer, that trial will be in 2016. Laquan McDonald? That trial will also be next year. Let’s also not forget Freddie Gray’s killers face a trial too. While these killings got indictments, there is very little hope for actual convictions.
I’m jotting all this down because I think that the whole idea of celebrating a new year is almost disingenuous considering that nothing really is changing. We can march, protest, and create hashtags but it does nothing in the minds of those who truly believe that “all lives matter.”
We have a problem. A huge problem that the father of Quintonio LeGrier can attest to. The police have to be held accountable for the things they do. Why is that so hard to understand?
How many killings will we see in 2016? I’m sure we cannot predict that but it will be too many. This is the part of next year that I will not be looking forward to. I will not be happy with the new hashtags and the same narrative of black people being killed by police. I will not look forward to the same story of not guilty verdicts and non indictments.
I will not look forward to, once again, bearing witness to what continues to be a dark part of this country’s color blind legacy of allowing police to get away with murder.
I’m not looking forward to this part 2016.
Anthony Otero 