“YOUTH ACTIVISM ON BLACK LIVES MATTER”
by Amanda, Bethany, Kristin, and Linh
An overview of our whole project was that we basically all worked together to advocate for the black lives matter movement. The Hate U Give movie really reflects on the Black Lives Matter movement as an innocent teen boy was shot because the police had mistaken his brush for a weapon. This scene in the movie was powerful due to the fact that it portrays a racist image towards black people. The fact that black people are targeted because of their color further proves that they get treated unfairly just because they look different. Black people should have the same treatment as any other race and shouldn’t have to fear for their lives just because they’re a different race.
Our media project is based on the movie The Hate U Give and the Black Lives Matter movement. Young youth activists are coming together to end white supremacy and police brutality, therefore they are standing up together as a community to empower everyone to speak up, respect and end racism towards Black Americans. As we present, we will be giving examples of racism and police brutality towards black Americans.
George Floyd being suffocated by a white police man is an example of racism and police brutality. George Floyd used a counterfeit bill and was suffocated by the police. He screamed "I can't breathe" but the police man continued to apply pressure on his neck. George Floyd later on died from being restrained by officers. Something that you should know is that 1 out of 4 Black Americans get arrested at least once in their lifetime. Most of the time, these convictions are accusations based on racial prejudice.
A big problem in racism is police brutality, Racism runs in the Justice system where people of color are oppressed, especially African Americans, who are treated differently and experienced brutally by the Law Enforcement. An example of this would be Khalief Browder who was accused of a petty crime that he didn't commit, but was still placed in a dangerous prison on Rikers Island. There he was abused and raped. He had to go through all these abusive acts just because he was accused of stealing a backpack, that lead him to eventually commit suicide.
“THE HATE U GIVE” by Angie Thomas
The Hate U Give is a movie about a black girl named Starr Carter, who uses code switching between living in a black community in Garden Heights and going to school in a wealthy white neighborhood in Williamson. One night, Starr goes to a party in her neighborhood and hangs out with her childhood crush, Khahil. When they are heading home after the party, a racist white cop pulls them over for no reason. At first, Khahil refuses to put his hands on the dashboard when the cop tells him to because he knows that he did not do anything wrong, but Starr insisted that he should, so he complied. He was then asked to step out of the car, while the cop pointed a gun at him. Khahil got a hair brush out of his car and the cop shot him, mistaking his brush as gun. She and the rest of the students boycotts school, as an act of justice for Khahil’s death. Her white counterparts sees this as an opportunity to skip school, instead of acknowledging the fact that another innocent black man has been killed by white police. Starr and her community in Garden Heights uses the media as a way to spread awareness of racism towards black people and to also get justice for Khahil. After protesting and speaking out about racism and police brutality, she realizes that society will always use stereotypes of black people to justify violence and racism against them.
An overview of our whole project was that we basically all worked together to advocate for the black lives matter movement. The Hate U Give movie really reflects on the Black Lives Matter movement as an innocent teen boy was shot because the police had mistaken his brush for a weapon. This scene in the movie was powerful due to the fact that it portrays a racist image towards black people. The fact that black people are targeted because of their color further proves that they get treated unfairly just because they look different. Black people should have the same treatment as any other race and shouldn't have to fear for their lives just because they're a different race.
