By now, you’ve heard the news that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd. This verdict represents a long-overdue measure of accountability — there should be consequences when police murder our loved ones.
Seven years ago, I sat at a bar on the eve of the George Zimmerman verdict in 2013, and I was sure that he would be convicted in the murder of seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin. And when he was acquitted, something shifted in me. Though I knew the failings of the criminal system in delivering justice for any of our families, I was sure that Zimmerman would not be allowed to get away with murder. Sadly, he did. It was at that moment that we created #BlackLivesMatter, to build a world where our lives would be respected.
This verdict is the impact of the shift in our culture, our norms, and our values, that we have been pushing forward for the better part of the last decade through this movement. It is work that we have done together, and it is proof that we can be the superheroes in our own stories. In my lifetime, I have seen the acquittal of the officers who brutally beat Rodney King on video. I have seen the acquittals of vigilantes and police officers who kill in our communities. And we have all seen the acquittal of an economy, a democracy, and a society that still does not value Black lives.
To be clear, this verdict is not justice. This verdict marks that it is possible, in this society, for there to be consequences for killing us.
Justice, however, is still fleeting. Justice would be George Floyd alive and thriving. The rules have been rigged against our communities for generations, rules that allowed police officers like Derek Chauvin and vigilantes like George Zimmerman to escape any consequences for their actions, rules that produce conditions in our communities so dire that we are constantly fighting for our right to survive.
Within periods of crisis, there is an opportunity – and it lies in meeting the needs of Black communities in America so that all of America can reach its promise. I
