Black lives matter: the sentiment, I entirely agree with; the foundation, not as much.
The Black Lives Matter Foundation was founded in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, whose race has been described as white, Latino, Hispanic, white Hispanic, and mixed. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black man, for reportedly looking “suspicious.”
Over outrage for this unbelievable situation, and many others, The Black Lives Matter movement has taken to the streets and social media to express indignation. Hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #BLM have been trending on social media.
According to the Black Lives Matter website, their purpose is to “build local power and to intervene when violence was inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.”
However, Hawk Newsome, leader of the Black Lives Matter chapter of Greater New York, when addressing the protests that have, at times, devolved to violence and destruction, said in an interview with FOX News that “this country is built upon violence” and “for any American to accuse us of being violent is extremely hypocritical.”
“If this country doesn’t give us what we want, we will burn down this system and replace it,” Newsome said. Later adding, “I just want Black liberation and Black sovereignty by any means necessary.”
I question how a foundation claims to be “guided by the fact that all Black lives matter…” yet, at least Newsome, condones the violence that has ensued, especially on people of color.
What about the African American run business owners whose livelihoods have been destroyed as a result of rioting and looting that began with Black Lives Matter protesting?
Janice Wilbourn, black owner of Wilbourn Sisters Designs, was in her Atlanta store at the time when rioters used projectiles to break the windows.
“I just heard boom, boom,” Wilbourn told FOX News. “They hit my windows with rocks and I just got down low on the floor.”
Rioters did not enter her store, though Willbourn did say she will have to “completely restructure what’s going on inside (her store).”
What about a black police officer killed in the line of duty during a riot?
Retired St. Louis police captain and at the time police chief of Moline Acres, Missouri, David Dorn, 77, was “murdered last night by a looter,” while guarding a pawn shop, city officials said during a press briefing on June 2.
If, like the Black Lives Matter movement claims, all Black lives matter, what about the 35% of Black pregnancies that end in abortion?
In an article published by The New York Times, Kawanna Shannon, an African American director of surgical services at Planned Parenthood, said that the legalities of abortion are “burdensome.”
“And now I have to still deal with the state and the governor now passing laws and telling me what I can and can’t do with my own body,” Shannon said. “It’s just burdensome.”
I find it burdensome that 295,000 Black babies were aborted in 2017; I find it most alarming that 295,000 Black babies were deemed inconvenient, unnecessary and unworthy of life.
