journal 4 chelsey

Sandra Bland (dead) in her mug shot

Sandra Bland (alive) and beautiful

I read the article on the police fatally killing African Americans and other minority groups. These stories have been all over the media and the news. People say there is two sides to every story, and most of the time there is. However, in most of these cases that I have seen and thoroughly looked into, the story is in the authority's favor. To me police brutality against black people in today's society is a huge issue that needs to be addressed and resolved.

Because of these videos, articles, news cast etc. my activism issue I chose is the black lives matter campaign. This campaign is for awareness of the discrimination and numerous acts of fatal violence against black lives. The point of saying black lives matter is not to say other lives don't matter, its to say that there is an issue rising against black lives  that needs to be addressed. In New York city there are placards on walls of all different buildings that say BLACK LIVES MATTER. People in society that are offended by this campaign need to educate themselves on the situations at hand. I am very strong hearted person so these things anger me and scare me at the same time, because this is the society we as young adults are growing up in, this is the society our younger siblings, or children are growing up in, and I don't think people are concerned enough about the violence that is going on in this nation.
I also think that people are getting upset at the black lives matter campaign because, peaceful protest have done nothing and people see that so African Americans are giving up and getting impatient and angry causing the protest to be more of a riot. This is not right at all, but I understand the frustration of the families, friends, and other people that want justice for their loved ones lost.

I've done some research on a story of a young African American woman, Sandra Bland. This was a very heartbreaking story. She was pulled over for a traffic stop, and somehow the traffic stop escalated and she was taken to jail. Then "found" dead in her jail cell. However, medical personnel have said that she was dead before she was put in her jail cell. The picture of her mug shot that was posted clearly was staged and she was dead in the shot. My mom is a nurse and she used to work for a hospice company, sad to say but she knows what people have passed look like. She herself agreed with other co workers and professional medical examiners that she was dead in the picture. The angering thing about this story is that even with medical personnel saying that she didn't kill herself in her cell, that she was already dead, but still no charges were filed against the police. Only a money settlement, which is not justice for her losing her life, for not using her turn signal.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/us/texas-sandra-bland-jail-death-explain/
This is a link to her story.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/27/us/christopher-dorner-manhunt-officers-cleared/

This is another link to a more recent story. A mother and daughter her shot at from behind in the back of their pickup truck, 107 times by 8 police officers. Thankfully it wasn't fatal, but the mother was shot in the back and chest.

Part 2. In Holding on I found Lydia Emry's profile really interesting. I loved that she became a doctor even when the odds were basically against her, and also how inexpensive she charged for her services. I am all for females in society beating the odds that are against them, so I was really excited and happy while reading her profile.