Though they represent the vast majority of unarmed Black deaths at the hands of police in America, men are not the only people of color to die disproportionately at the hands of those who apparently refuse to protect and serve. Still, there are other members of our society who believe that they have the right to take Black lives as well. We all know this is nothing new. We have historical examples in Emmett Till, who was lynched, beaten, and then thrown into the Tallahatchie River by two white brothers. More recently, there is the example of Trayvon Martin, whose murderer walked away from shooting the 17 year-old without a decent slap on the wrist, after shooting him in cold blood when he said his package of Skittles looked like a gun.
Then, there is young, LaTasha Harlins, whose senseless murder was unarguably the catalyst for the 1992 L. A. Riots. Her 1991 death at the hands of Los Angeles store owner, Soon Ja Du over a $2.00 bottle of orange juice was referenced many times by the late, great Tupac Shakur, through his music. Although Du was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, she served no jail time for blowing out the light that was LaTasha.
To those who knew and loved her, LaTasha is remembered as a protector. Her cousin, Shinese, remembers her as being confident, and she remembers that LaTasha always insisted that the two of them refer to themselves as "queens". According to her best friend, she always wanted to help change the world in which she lived. She had dreams of becoming a lawyer so that she could be instrumental in righting the wrongs she witnessed in her community. She had plans to create a safe place for children in her neighborhood to play. She was a change agent before we knew what the term meant.
The question here is, what qualified George Zimmerman, Soon Ja Du, and countless other murderers to commit acts of murder or assault? There doesn't seem there needs to be a legitimate reason either. If we can't rely on the law, and we can't rely on our fellow citizens, who is left? That would be us.
We can't continue to blame white privilege for everything. Although Zimmerman is white, Du was not. Even then, our lives were worthless. If we can take anything from the deaths of these and countless other Black people, it is that we are a resilient people. We must continue to fight to overhaul the current broken-down system of justice in this country.
Unfortunately, what we have learned with George Floyd and Daunte Wright's deaths is that while resilience is commendable, patience eventually runs out.
Elizabeth Thomas is an educator, writer, publisher, entrepreneur, and change agent. She is also the founder of Queen Things Online Magazine, as well as Latter Rain Publishing, LLC. Find her on social media at: https://www.facebook.com/dueseasonwriters
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