Black Lives Matter

June 7, 2020

 









Black Lives Matter

The Corona Virus pandemic, while still going full force, has been all but forgotten in the past two weeks as racial tensions, protests, demonstrations and even some rioting and looting have spread to virtually every city and many communities around the United States and even around the world in the wake of the violent death of a black man, George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The officer placed his knee on Floyd’s neck during an arrest and left it there for almost nine minutes while Floyd pleaded for him to stop as he was unable to breathe. 

 







Three other Minneapolis police officers stood by and did nothing as the life ebbed from Mr. Floyd’s body. While the entire episode was caught on video, it took more than a week before any charges were brought against any of the officers and the outcry for equal justice spread into the nightly worldwide protests as the death of Mr. Floyd was the final straw for many in what has been a litany of miscarriages of justice against the black community going back literally decades.

 









In spite of the warnings and peril of large gatherings due to the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of protesters have gathered in almost every major city in America. The virus has continued to infect people at an alarming rate, with cases in Florida growing at the fastest rate since the virus started. In the United States there have been 1,908,313 confirmed cases with tragically 109,399 deaths. Here locally, the numbers are at 111 confirmed cases, 42 of those being in Key West and still holding at 3 deaths here.



Kathy 







People feel so strongly about the current crisis that they are willing to risk contamination by the virus by gathering in large groups, which we can hardly blame them. Night after night there has been non-stop media coverage of the myriad of protests, some of which have turned violent. The problem with the coverage is that they tend to focus on the extremes with extensive coverage of every example of police over-aggression, protesters and agitators and any crime being committed.



Key West Police Chief Brandenburg 

Sheriff Ramsey





Sadly many criminals have taken advantage of the situation to commit crimes such as looting and stir up violence under the guise of being protesters, at the same time some police, national guard and officials have behaved terribly, attacking protesters, even peaceful ones with a vengeance. The focus always seem to be on these extremes, which certainly deserve attention but are only a portion of what is really happening which I believe is a much needed large scale movement that is demanding positive change.



 



The situation has been inflamed by the President who has fanned the flames of hate and come out in favor of crushing the protests violently if necessary. It has raised tensions and added a level of anger to an already volatile situation. Thankfully it really feels like the tide may have turned this time. I certainly hope so as there doesn’t seem to be much middle ground and there seems to be a wave of momentum to effect real change. The protests have been continuing, spreading and gaining strength in the two weeks since Floyd’s death.








Key West, like many communities has joined the ever expanding chorus of voices raised in anger and demanding change. A local protest was organized and Kathy and I went to show our support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Unlike many similar gatherings across the country, the Key West protest, demonstration and march was entirely peaceful. The protest featured a gathering in Bahama Village near the Martin Luther King Jr, center and featured speeches by local officials including the mayor of Key West, county mayor, Key West police chief and Monroe County Sheriff along with local organizers and members of the black community.





Key West Mayor

There was a really good turnout and the event went off without much of a hitch with the exception of a single man who shouted racial slurs and heckled the crowd from the parade route. That was not enough to damper the enthusiasm of those participating and the genuine concern and outrage of the people who feel that the time has come to address the many issues of inequality and racial animus that stains our country. 









Of course these sort of protests have happened over the course of our history, certainly many in my lifetime and the very fact that we still need so much to be done in itself shows that we have a long, long way to go, but I feel somewhat hopeful that maybe, just maybe this is the start of a movement that will see actual results.







I hope my photos help capture a little of the spirit of the Key West event, but I have included some of the fantastic black and white photos taken by my friend Mark Hedden, they really convey the varied emotions, hopes and anger and outrage of the Key West crowd.