Police Brutality: Let’s Talk About It
By: Aahana Agarwal
America has been plagued with hate and discrimination for far too long. The fight for African American equality dates back to the 1900s, so why is this still an issue? Quite simply, it’s because our “protectors” are failing at keeping us safe. In July of 2020, thousands of protesters attended the Columbus Statue Protest in Grant Park to remove the symbol of death for many indigenous people in America. For years, the Columbus Statue had been a constant reminder of the genocide of Native Americans in 1942 where roughly 55 million American people were killed. They were successful, and the statue was removed and thrown into a lake in Baltimore. However, the protest quickly turned ugly when fireworks and soda cans were released at the police and innocent protesters got caught in the crossfire. One of the innocents was 18-year-old activist Miracle Boyde.
Boyde had finished speaking to the protesting crowd when she began filming the arrest of another fellow activist. The rising young activist also filmed the encounter between her and law enforcement and near the end of the video, her phone is knocked away from her as the officer swings his left hand at her. Seconds later her tooth was knocked out and she was bleeding.
While some claim it was the fault of the vigilantes who threw the cans and fireworks at the police, Miracle believes “… We can’t have a circumstance where a small subset …[trys] to take over and hijack the peaceful protest and then turn it into a fight with the police”. Others joined to defend her, such as Jeanette Taylor, who asked, “You beat people up over a statue? You rough them up over a statue?”. GoodKids MadCity also showed their support by setting up a GoFundMe to help Miracle pay for her medical treatment. Miracle, however, had other plans and graciously donated much of the money raised to people experiencing homelessness in Chicago and for medical treatments for black girls. She even donated $10,000 to GoodKids MadCity for their work in violence prevention.
As for the cop, Miracle and the GoodKids MadCity aren’t looking to have him arrested. Rather, they would like to have him step down as they believe in restorative justice, a form of criminal justice where all stakeholders meet in order to repair the harm caused. The GoodKids MadCity is also asking that “Chicago police be removed from public schools and that part of the department’s funding go toward its own plan to reduce violence in Chicago.” As of now Chicago mayor, Lori Lightfoot, is urging anyone who feels mistreated by the occurrence at Grant Park to contact COPA, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability
After recognizing these devastating incidents, it’s easy to see why the racial issues in America are far from over, but we can’t lose hope. Angela Davis once said, “In a racist society it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist”. In order to be “anti-racist” we need to keep fighting and share the stories of individuals who go to great lengths to protect civil rights. So go, show your support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and share the story of the brave Miracle Boyde.