Lives Matter

A few years ago +Trayvon Martin was killed by +George Zimmerman because he was wearing a hoodie. He was seventeen years old. A jury of his peers found George Zimmerman not liable for this murder. His defence was something called 'Stand your ground' where apparently you're allowed to shoot someone because you feel threatened.
Since then, several people have been killed, with video evidence, and their killers have gone free.
Every time it happened, there is a message which was sent out to the Black American Community. That message was;
'We can kill you with no consequences.'
'Your life does not matter.'
A gorilla died, and so did a lion (in Zimbabwe, named Cecil). The deaths of these animals incited more outrage than the death of #TamirRice, a twelve year old child.
Every time some black man was killed on camera, his life was dissected and any wrong thing he'd ever done was displayed like some sort of justification for murder. The message this sent was;
"Look at this guy. He wasn't perfect. Therefore his life didn't matter."
Hashtags were born.
#handsupdontshoot for Mike Brown
#IamTrayvon and wearing hoodies.
#Ican'tbreath for Eric Garner
And finally #Blacklivesmatter because there were too many lives lost and hashtags couldn't be individualised anymore.
And now this week, some of the most traumatising videos yet. A man held down and shot for asking what the fuck he did. Another man shot in his car because well...reasons.
It was too much.
It was too much for Micah Xavier Johnson.
He couldn't take anymore.
So he took a sniper rifle or five (which are readily available anywhere) and mowed down some cops.
These are the consequences of lack of justice. Lack of accountability. Nobody takes responsibility so everybody pays.
What's the solution?
Justice is the solution.
Doing the right thing is the solution.
On all sides.