In 2016, I lost my father to a battle with drugs. Here's what I wish I could say to him:Dear Dad,I’m sorry. When Keyshia Cole’s mother, Frankie Lons, passed away this week, I immediately thought of you. You, too, struggled with substance abuse for most of your life and like Cole, I was the child left to deal with the aftermath, time and time again. Most of my formative years were spent one of two ways: despising you for succumbing to rampant drug use that led you to abandon me or daydreaming of this whimsical, alternate reality where you were present in my life. As I’ve gotten older and wiser, I realize that so much of my life has been centered on my resentment towards you. Now, I realize I never gave you the grace you deserved. When I think of our relationship, I become consumed with conflict. I want to be angry at you for your absence in my life. But I also want to empathize with you because your struggle with addiction was never your fault. Both can be true. Oftentimes, when we think of addiction, the onus is normally put on the person who is grappling with it as opposed to challenging the root causes.It’s no secret that the Black community is disproportionately criminalized at higher rates than our white counterparts but it’s important that we address the stigmatization of addiction as well. You didn’t deserve shame, you deserved help. I vividly remember my mother doing the best she could to liberate you from this enslavement to drugs and I can’t help but wonder if you’d still be here, had we all taken her empathetic approach. Looking back on it, I wish that I would’ve taken that approach and then some. It was so easy for me to wallow in misery when I could’ve taken the time to truly try and understand how I could support you in becoming clean or at the very least, doing my part to keep in touch despite our differences. For that, I’m sorry.I’m sorry that I let my pride get in the way of reconnecting with you before your death. I’m sorry that I didn’t give you the grace that you deserved in dealing with your addiction. I’m sorry that you didn’t get that compassion from so many others. I am, in no way, justifying your absence from my life nor excusing it. But I am sorry for playing a part in stigmatizing you for your addiction.Before you passed away, I naively thought that we had all the time in the world to repair our relationship. I never imagined that we’d be robbed of that opportunity by the same culprit who’s caused such a dent in our bond, already. The moment when I received the phone call of your transition is the moment that I realized that time waits for no one. There was so much left unsaid between us and it taught me a valuable lesson about what it means to put my pride to the side and embrace those who need it the most. You not only needed that love but you deserved it. At this stage in my life, I’m choosing to not focus much more of my energy on the “what if” scenario had you been the ideal father. I’m choosing to move forward with the lessons learned from your experiences and living my life accordingly, implementing them into how I govern the way that I live. Whether it’s doing my due diligence in loving people a bit harder when they need it or doing the work to create structural change that eliminates addiction and its byproducts, my life’s journey will forever include you and I choose to embrace that.I once looked at your absence as a flaw in my persona, along the lines of an insecurity like a blemish on my face. I now know it has helped to shape me into the man I am today -- a man I am so proud of. I think you would be proud too. When people ask me what I do for a living and I tell them, “I write about pop culture,” I quietly laugh to myself because I know that I inherited my love of pop culture from you. I’m grateful for the lessons that you taught me, even when you didn't know you were teaching them.With...

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) gathered at the Lincoln Room at the Capitol on Wednesday to honor Black women who have been protesting amid a battle to get critical voting rights legislation passed. “We know throughout our history Black people had to fight for everything that we have gotten in this country, and most of the time, we are very fortunate that Black women have been on the forefront of those fights,” said Rep. Joyce Beatty, the CBC's chairwoman. The Democrats have particularly focused on passing the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, aiming to stop voting restriction legislations which are being discussed around the country. Sixteen states have already enacted 28 laws that would restrict voting access, ABC News reported. Beatty was among the protesters who was arrested by Capitol Police last week for staging a pro-voting rights demonstration, as Blavity previously reported. The protesters were shouting “end the filibuster” before they were apprehended."This afternoon, nine people were arrested for demonstrating in a prohibited area on Capitol Grounds. At approximately 3:30 p.m., the United States Capitol Police responded to the Atrium in the Hart Senate Office Building for reports of illegal demonstration activity," U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement. Sharing photos of her arrest on July 15, Beatty wrote "Let the people vote. Fight for justice." She also echoed the words of the late Rep. John Lewis, writing "Good Trouble." Let the people vote. Fight for justice. pic.twitter.com/JnEUPl9KJW— Joyce Beatty (@RepBeatty) July 15, 2021"I stand in solidarity with the Black women and allies across the country in defense of our constitutional right to vote," the Ohio Democrat said in a statement,  according to CNN. "We have come too far and fought too hard to see everything systematically dismantled and restricted by those who wish to silence us. Be assured that this is just the beginning. This is Our Power, Our Message."LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, was also among the demonstrators. “We cannot organize our way out of this,” she said. “We cannot litigate our way out of this, we have got to have some federal legislation to really be able to help us.”House Democrats advanced the For the People Act in March, but the legislation failed to advance in a procedural vote late last month and remained stalled in the Senate. The bill, which aims to transform federal elections, voting and congressional redistricting, has been opposed by Republicans. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act has also fallen short of the 10 Republican votes required to clear the Senate filibuster.With Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote, the Senate Democratic caucus can axe the filibuster. However, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) are opposed to ending the filibuster to make way for the bill.Harris met with Black women activists on July 16 to discuss voting rights."I look at the leaders that are at this table, who are also women, and also Black women, and I see Sojourner Truth. When I look at the women at this table I see Ida B. Wells, Amelia Boynton. I see Fannie Lou Hamer; I see Constance Baker Motley," the Vice President said.She also described the women as "modern versions of those great women.""This meeting has been a meeting and a discussion among leaders, who are national leaders, who are American leaders, about what we must collectively as a nation do to stand up for our democracy," Harris continued. Beatty vowed to keep up the fight.“We are still fighting against voter suppression in a country that was built on the backs of enslaved ancestors,” she said. “It is simply unacceptable, and we're here today to tell you, we are not accepting it anymore, we know what we have to...

A 17-year-old Iowa scientist has invented color changing stitches which can detect infection at the site of surgical incisions. Dasia Taylor’s development is groundbreaking and could prevent illness and death caused by surgery-related infections. Taylor, who graduated from Iowa City West High School in June, said she has been working on this development since her junior year of high school, AfroTech reported.Her chemistry honors teacher Carolyn Walling helped her cultivate the idea one day after school, while discussing what the teen would do for the school’s upcoming science fair.  “I read an article about how these scientists created these stitches that involved this really fancy technology that I perceived to be inequitable to those that would actually be able to need this technology. I said, hey, I can do it better. I can do it more equitable,” Taylor recalled during an interview with PBS.The teen said she created the color changing sutures due to the alarming number of deaths incurred by those who undergo surgery in developing countries.“I came up with color-changing stitches that provide early detection for infections, with the specific focus on surgical site infections in developing countries, because those can be very deadly if they're found too late,” Taylor said. The high school graduate said in order for the stitches to change color, she dyes them in beet juice because beets are natural indicators and when pH levels change, so does the color. “When you have an infection, there's chemical imbalances going on, and my stitches pick up those chemical imbalances, and then they change color because of what's going on all, all the science stuff,” Taylor said.In Mar. 2020, the teen entered her project into the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. While there, she couldn’t help but notice she was the only Black person in the competition. “Being in the room knowing stereotypes were flying and to be able to prove them wrong and win first place was phenomenal,” Taylor said. “My mom and I talk about it all the time," she continued. "I often find myself in white-dominated spaces. That’s definitely one for the books.”Although Taylor was the only Black person in the competition she did not let that deter her from reigning victorious over the other competitors.The teen was also named a finalist in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search, a national science competition geared toward pre-college...

1969 was the start of a new age for the Black community. Although the ability to rally and shine through adversity has always been a key part of Black people’s DNA, the tumultuous and tide-shifting events of the ‘60s led to a turning point in Black identity and consciousness. People in the community were standing up and unifying around a singular concept: We are Black, and we are proud. Throughout our history, Black people have gone above and beyond to survive in a world that demanded our blood, sweat and tears to get even a glimpse of the American Dream. But this was different. Black people were facing that world and demanding change. And that change needed to happen now.Much like that transformational decade, today’s Black community is facing another crucial period. With a renewed cry for social justice and political reform, we’re realizing that long-lasting change is possible. Just like then, a new generation of Black folk are standing up and calling for change, ushering in a social movement destined to shape generations to come.In his cinematic homage to the Black Joy revolution, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson debuts footage from the iconic and long-forgotten 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six-week-long concert series that united a community through music, culture, style and celebration. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) provides a moving and joyful lens into this key moment of Black life, where so much of life as we knew it was...

A Louisville woman died while in custody at an Indiana jail and attorneys for her family say she had bruises on her face, caught a fever and vomited moments before her death, WDRB reports.Ta'Neasha Chappell died in the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown, Indiana, on July 16. According to the Courier Journal, she was being held for an alleged theft that led to a high-speed chase. In a statement, attorneys Sam Aguiar, Lonita Baker and Ben Crump, who've all also represented Breonna Taylor's family, revealed that Chappell had a swollen and bruised face. Additionally, lawyers claim that the authorities in the jail ignored Chappell’s medical needs as she vomited consistently and had a rising fever before she died. Baker, a local attorney, says racism and the condition of the jail could be described as being ripe "cruel and unusual punishment," the Courier Journal reported."She went in a young, 23-year-old mother, healthy, and she should have returned to her family that same way,” Baker said. Today we want to send our condolences to Ta'Neasha Chappell. She died in POLICE CUSTODY while being transported to another prison. We are sending love to her daughter and other family members. #TaNeashaChappell#protectblackwomen pic.twitter.com/4TXg0yA6Bq— Sisters Unchained (@SistersUnchaind) July 20, 2021 According to a release from the Indiana State Police, Chappell died shortly after being transported to the Schneck Medical Center. Awaiting an autopsy, the authorities have not yet announced the cause of her death.“I want the truth to be heard and told," Chappell's sister, Ronesha Murrell, told WDRB in an interview. "We are owed that. My sister was in their care. Regardless as an inmate, they had a duty to protect her still."Murrell says that although the family has been in communication with the state police, they have received "very little details” about her sister’s death."We're just taking it day by day," Murrell told The Courier Journal. "We want justice."While in jail, Chappell’s mother, Lavita McClain, said her daughter feared for her life.“She called every day telling us to get her out of there,” McClain told Wave 3 News. "Mama they’re going to kill me in here, they’re going to kill me in here,’ and she would always say ‘get me out of here if anything happens to me just know that they did it.’”Chappell's death is still under investigation by Indiana State Police and the family's legal team is seeking an independent medical examination.A GoFundMe has been started to help pay for Chappell's funeral expenses and to support her...

If I had a dime for every person who wrongly assumed my race and nationality, I'd have enough money to pay myself reparations. It's the half-Black part for me because that's totally incorrect. I am an all-Black woman who has one African American parent and one Latino parent. I only know this is confusing to some people because there are generally several follow-up questions. "Where are you from?" they ask. I tell them, "New Jersey." "Where are you really from?" they ask. "New Jersey is a real place," I respond. And we go back and forth until they ask where my parents are from. Dissatisfied with the answers, New York and Louisiana, they undoubtedly hit me with, "No, what's your nationality?" Now, as if I didn't already say that I'm from New Jersey, this street reporter will be surprised to learn that I am American. That snippet of an actual ongoing conversation is the story of my life. That's why I threw my fist in the air when I read a response from frustrated Olympian, Naomi Osaka, who has since the age of ten competed under the Japanese flag in worldwide competitions...because she was born in Japan. "I don't choose America and suddenly people are like, 'Your Black card is revoked.' And it's like, African American isn't the only Black, you know?" Osaka said in her Netflix docuseries, as Blavity previously reported. "I don't know, I feel like people really don't know the difference between nationality and race because there's a lot of Black people in Brazil, but they're Brazilian." She's right. While we can all acknowledge that race is a social construct, we also must acknowledge that we have accepted said social construct for hundreds of years. Merriam-Webster defines race as "a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits." While Dictionary.com defines nationality as "the status of belonging to a particular nation."By the merit of these definitions, Osaka remains a Black woman no matter what her passport says or which flag she chooses to play under at the Olympics. And in fact, if you're familiar with her story then you know that her Black isn't American anyway. Her father, Leonard François, is a Haitian national who was born in Jacmel, Haiti.But, let's get a little deeper into this Black people all over the world thing.The first issue at hand is that "Black" is often used by people to either define race or interchangeably with the nearly-defunct nomenclature of African American. By that standard, Black Americans sometimes feel a sense of ownership to the word and the concept of it as a racial makeup. Maybe we have James Brown to thank for that. Before his 1968 mega-hit, "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud," Black Americans were widely referred to as "negro." Brown was key in ushering in the Black Power movement. Unfortunately, Black unity worldwide didn't necessarily accompany the empowering trend. But, here's the thing: we totally recognize Black people from other parts of the world as Black when we think they're American. Take the creation of hip-hop culture, for example. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the world who would dare not credit Black people with inventing the genre, but have you ever taken a second to look up some of these founder's countries of origin? DJ Kool Herc, who created the breakbeat at the infamous 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in The Bronx, was born in Jamaica. Grandmaster Flash was born in Barbados and Afrika Bambaataa is a first-generation American of Jamaican and Barbadian descent. These three men are considered the Holy Trinity of hip-hop. Since they're also widely known as Black, I know that the concept of being Black outside of America isn't too foreign. It's slavery, in large part, that led to Black people ending up all over the world. Enslaved Africans were quite literally shipped across the globe. To disqualify someone's adjacency to Blackness because they're not Black American is wayward in all kinds of ways. My earliest known ancestor was a woman given the name Rose, who was born in Nigeria but hailed as a Jamaican national before being brought to Louisiana in 1779. However, and this is very important to note, even before that, world migrations took place hundreds of years before the widely-known slave trade.These migrations would find darker-skinned peoples moving about the world nomadically and settling in areas like Central Mexico, the Iberian Peninsula and parts of South America, among countless other places across the globe. In much later years, things like exile and military duty would find Black people settling in other countries to start families. In the instances of military duty or other types of dual citizenship families, children of these unions are allowed to either maintain both citizenships or be forced to make a choice. It quite literally matters not where you've spent most of your life when the time comes to choose your citizenship. Sure, Osaka's lived much of her life in the states, but the fact of the matter is, her being born in Japan allows her to honor her nationality in competitions that literally ask you to honor your nationality.  According to Biography.com, while Osaka grew up with both Japanese and U.S. citizenship, Japanese law requires that dual citizens choose between their Japanese citizenship and other passports at age 22. According to The Washington Post, the athlete relinquished her United States citizenship in 2019. The irony in the criticisms that followed is that there never was a requirement or option of choosing her race because that absolutely makes no sense. Per the Post, Osaka admitted that the Olympics played a role in her decision to choose Japan.While she had been widely hailed as an American athlete, likely due to her many years living in the country, it should not be surprising that she would look to honor her birthplace, in particular during her first Olympics which are being held in her country of origin. And homegirl got to light the legendary cauldron with the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies!  Speaking of the Olympics, my earliest memory of seeing someone I thought to be an American athlete play for another country was Tony Kukoč, who during the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona became a silver medal Olympian under the Croatian flag. One year later, he was a forward on the Chicago Bulls, who helped the team to their second championship "3-peat." However, as 1996 rolled around, the NBA champion once again played under the Croatian flag at the Olympic Games.While Kukoč is not Black, I am using an NBA example because I don't want anyone to blow their lids when our current league MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo plays under the Greek flag someday. Surely, that would make him no less the Black man that many of us are bragging about right now. Another NBA example is Ben Simmons, who although withdrawn from the current summer games, was set to play for his birth country, Australia.There's truly a sense of unmatched pride when you get to put on for your city, so revoking one's Black card simply because they choose to remain connected to their country of origin is a weird flex. The mirror ain't change their reflection, so why are you altering your...

Blavity is widely known as one of the best spaces on the web to get the latest information on everything Black. But it's also a place for you to share your thoughts on the latest in local and national news, politics, viral social media moments, relationships, health and many other things that affect our culture and drive us to talk.Blavity Op-Eds is where you can share your opinion/perspective to our audience — and the process is super easy.1. Create a submissions account by going to editor.blavity.com/register. Once completed, you’ll receive an email asking you to verify your account. Click the link inside the message.If you don't see the verification email in your inbox, check your spam folder.2. Once back on Blavity, you should be signed in. Click the “Post” button. On the following page, insert your story.The important thing here is that you fill out every field. When adding a featured image, make sure it's landscape, not portrait, and high quality (at least 1,000 px wide).Also imperative to note: Only submit original, unpublished content. Content that has been previously published on other sites will not be accepted.Consider a word count of 550 — 1,000 words.Try your best to make everything look as good as possible, but don’t sweat it too much. We'll make sure your story looks great on the back end.3. After filling out every field, click “Post in review” on the right side of the page.If the buttons are grayed out, that means a field is empty.4. In addition, please add an avatar to your account. To do this, log into the account and click the name in the top right corner. On the following page, click "Change Avatar." A resized image of 800x800 is best for easy uploading.That’s it! You’ll receive an email if your piece is selected to be published.If you need some direction or inspiration, check out previous op-eds from the Blavity community! A good idea would also be to check out our news section and voice your perspective on one of our recent stories.For questions or assistance, feel free to reach out to me, Namon Eugene, at...

A Karen was left in shambles when an American Airlines airport manager called out her belligerent behavior and denied her from boarding the plane. In the clip, which went viral on Reddit on Tuesday, the woman pleads for mercy after allegedly cursing at one of the employees on the flight, The Independent reported. But the manager stands his ground and suggests the Karen fly on Spirit Airlines next time.“You called my employee a b***h, [and it was] completely uncalled for and inappropriate. You’re not going to travel. We don’t tolerate that crap with us, at all,” he said. “So you can find another carrier to fly with. I suggest Spirit.”The woman tried to say she had not called an airport employee a "b***h." She also denied that she had violated the airline’s face mask policy.“[If] you weren't disrespectful then I would let you travel, but unfortunately you called my employee a b***h,” the manager said, adding that other people heard her using the curse word as well. The Karen continued to claim her innocence, but failed to find any...

Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, is now adding a Twitter emoji of her own to her impeccable resume. The social media platform now shows a goat emoji when users write #SimoneBiles, affirming the fact that the gymnast is indeed the greatest of all time. The goat depicted in the emoji performs a split leap while wearing a red leotard and a gold medal.Witness greatnessTweet with greatness#SimoneBiles#Simone pic.twitter.com/M6RKzP3KB6— Twitter Sports (@TwitterSports) July 21, 2021In 2019, the 24-year-old debuted a leotard featuring Goldie, a rhinestone logo in the shape of a goat, Marie Claire reported. The superstar athlete also donned Goldie at the 2021 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, where she won her record seventh title. "The idea was to hit back at the haters. I didn't feel like it was necessarily fair how they could keep saying whatever they wanted, but then if I said something, it wasn't fair," Biles said. "[The haters] were joking like, 'I swear, if she put a goat on her leo, blah, blah, blah.' That would make them so angry. And then I was like, 'Oh, that's actually a good idea. Let's make the haters hate it, and the fans love it.' And so that's exactly what we did and why we did it."The Olympian is striving to make sure kids "aren't ashamed of being good at whatever they do.""Everybody can say you're good, but once you acknowledge it, it's not cool anymore," she said. "And I want kids to learn that, yes, it's OK to acknowledge that you're good or even great at something."With the latest honor she received, Biles became the first female athlete and first Olympic athlete to have her own emoji, Yahoo reported. Twitter said the emoji aims to recognize Biles' "legacy, achievements and epic usage of the platform." The social media company adds that Biles was the second-most talked about Olympic athlete on the platform during the first six months of this year. Only Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee was ahead of the American athlete. According to the Daily Mail, Biles and her teammates showed off their leotards for the 2021 Olympics during training on Thursday. The two leotards seen on Thursday are created by GK Elite, the official apparel sponsor of the USA Gymnastics national team. Each one of the outfits features about 3,500 Swarovski crystals. About 75 people individually applied the crystals with their hands during the production of the leotards. The uniforms are estimated to be worth $700 to $1,200...

Lil Nas X done did it again.On Friday, the Grammy-winning artist released his latest video for his single “Industry Baby” and he’s bringing all the sexy that you can handle, Billboard reports. Over a smoking hot track produced by Kanye West and Take a Daytrip and featuring a guest verse from Jack Harlow, “Industry Baby” is poised to take its rightful place as another summer anthem. Opening with a mock Supreme Court scene that spoofs his recent Satan shoes controversy with Nike, Lil Nas X plays multiple roles in the video including the judge, defense attorney, the prosecutor, a jury member, and he takes the stand to defend himself against all the accusations levied at him. After he’s found guilty, Lil Nas X is sentenced to five years in Montero State Prison. But not for the shoes -- for being gay. Without question, a nude Lil Nas X is aiming at all his homophobic haters with his provocative, stunning visual and with his lyrics on the hook.“I told you long ago on the road/I got what they waiting for/I don’t run from nothing, dog/Get your soldiers, tell ’em I ain’t layin’ low/You was never really rooting for me anyway/When I’m back up at the top, I wanna hear you say/He don’t run from nothin’, dog/Get your soldiers, tell ’em that the break is over,” Nas sings on the chorus. Throughout the video, Lil Nas X brings that heat while in prison with sexy choreography surrounded by dancers also sporting their birthday suits. By the end of the video, Lil Nas X and Harlow break everyone out of prison and they celebrate their liberation with another fire dance routine right outside the gates of the...

If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.Opinions are the writer’s own and not those of Blavity's.____Growing up as a small girl in East Oakland, my family and community raised me and compelled me to be a part of the movement. I was taught by my elementary school teacher mother, organized with my union-carpenter father, learned the power of Black art as resistance from my playwright teacher Baba and imbued the vital importance of one’s faith from my grandparents.As a student in Berkeley High’s Black Studies Department, my teacher, Mr. Navies, steeped us in our culture and power, even as our neighborhoods were ravaged by the crack cocaine epidemic and accompanying violence and police abuse. My time at Howard University shaped me into a student activist, and after moving to Los Angeles for graduate school, I earned my place in the Black activist community. It was as a fully grown Black mother in 2013, that I came to know Black freedom struggle as my sacred duty and life’s purpose.When Trayvon Martin’s murder was acquitted on July 13, 2013, I was one of thousands who flooded the streets. We shut down and blocked major neighborhoods and roadways over the course of three days. On the third day, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors called us together to build “a movement, not a moment.” Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles was birthed as the first, largest and one of the most active chapters in the global formation. We stepped into our own power, and over the course of the last eight years, we challenged everyone from Hollywood to corporations and politicians to affirm that “Black lives matter.”The Black Lives Matter (BLM) rallying cry took tangible form in 2021, in the name of George Floyd, as BLM Los Angeles led efforts that defunded $150 million from LAPD and pressured the mayor to pledge $250 million to the Black community. We worked with community organizations and leaders to remove school police from public schools and invested nearly $100 million in Black student resources.Beyond Los Angeles, BLM solidified its organizing under BLM Grassroots to work toward an abolitionist vision across all local communities. #DefundThePolice and #ReImaginePublicSafety became our clarion calls that envisioned communities and neighborhoods free of police, prisons and jails.Our Black Survival Fund has worked to provide millions of dollars into the hands of Black people suffering amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and launched #VerifiedBlackOwned to support Black-owned businesses.Through BLM’s Political Action Committee, we activated millions of voters to elect progressive candidates and helped oust Donald Trump. And through BLM’s Global Network Foundation, we provided $26 million in funding to Black-led revolutionary organizations around the nation and partnered with Love Not Blood to resource the tremendous organizing work of families directly impacted by police violence.We continue to build towards radical and transformative policy. In California, we co-sponsored the Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Bill to reform our criminal system to protect instead of harm Black lives. We continue to push visionary federal legislation like the BREATHE Act and the People’s Response Act to set a precedent for public safety where all communities can thrive.Yet, even as the movement grows, unjust systems continue to dig in its heels, attempting to increase police budgets, criminalize houselessness and poverty, erode voting rights and assault protestors.This is why we remain steadfast in our commitment to topple oppressive systems and build a future that is fit for generations to come. Black liberation and complete freedom is our vision. It is certain to be realized when we struggle together and unceasingly for it. As we celebrate the victories of the last eight years, let our wins and the unrelenting will of our people propel us forward. Eight years of Black Lives Matter and many more to go.____Dr. Melina Abdullah is Professor of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Abdullah was among the original group of organizers that convened to form Black Lives Matter. She continues to serve as a Los Angeles chapter lead and co-director of BLM...

If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.Opinions are the writer’s own and not those of Blavity's.____When I was 13 years old, I was home alone and heard a car door slam outside. I peeped through my blinds and saw two officers. One officer walked to my front door and the other went around my house and out of sight.I immediately called my parents, who then called 911 to find out why they were there. I could hear the fear in my parents’ voices as they instructed me on what to do. My grandfather was on his way to the house. While I waited, I heard talking outside of my window. When I peeked out the window, I saw the first officer with his gun drawn, pointing directly at my window. I ran and hid in the closet and soon after my grandfather pulled up to our house and rushed to talk to the officers.We later found out that the officers were there because of an issue with our phone line and alarm system. The officers apologized and stated they received an alert of a possible home invasion and I looked “suspicious.” How can a 13-year-old boy look suspicious in his own home?This encounter opened my eyes to how quickly interactions with law enforcement can turn dangerous. And like many of my peers, the experience forced me to familiarize myself with the harsh realities of racial prejudice and police brutality before I’d even acclimated to the world of high school. My experience is not unique. Far too many people can relate or know someone who’s had the same experience.There is a shared pessimistic feeling amongst Generation Z’s perspective of humanity's future. In just the last 24 years, Gen Z has lived through catastrophic natural disasters, unprecedented levels of social unrest and, not to mention, a global pandemic that ripped their childhood milestones from them. While many students worried if they’d ever be able to take part in traditional rights of passage put on pause by the pandemic, we were also grappling with the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright and too many to count. This opened many people's eyes to the racial injustice prevalent in the U.S. that was somehow hidden to so many.Gen Z watched as figures who are supposed to protect were not being held accountable. How can we sit back and watch as systems and people who are supposed to be laying the groundwork for a better country for younger generations continue to exploit and oppress vulnerable communities?In the last few years, this question has ignited many of my peers to forgo their youth and step into activism roles. My own experience with law enforcement and watching the experiences of others made me feel as if I needed to present a solution. I created The Safety Pouch, a tool to help facilitate safer interactions for both law enforcement and civilians.The Safety Pouch is a storage tool that allows you to keep all of your driving credentials in one place. The fluorescent orange pouch can be clipped to the exterior window, minimizing movement within the vehicle, allowing more visibility inside the vehicle and the option to keep your hands on the steering wheel. The fact that the Safety Pouch is considered a useful and lifesaving device shines a light on the current lack of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. It shows that we have to go out of our way to buy and create tools to protect us from those whose sworn duty is to protect. The Safety Pouch is a reflection of our society.While I’ve had people reach out and share that the pouch makes them feel much safer during traffic stops, why did I feel so compelled to create something to solve this problem? This shows the extent that Gen Z has to go through to come up with solutions to problems because of the lack of effectiveness of our elected officials due to political partisanship.This generation, which can be seen as far more progressive than previous generations, is not taking “wait your turn” for an answer. Our turn is now. The issues that matter to us and affect the whole of our country and world are now.While I applaud my peers for stepping up to the plate and fighting to enact change in our communities, my hope is that our collective work sustains and coming generations get to enjoy the luxury of their entire youth and their innocence; that the people who’ve been tasked with eradicating corrupt practices are held to systems of accountability that ensure they follow through; that the pressures of fixing the world are no longer on the shoulders of individuals who’ve yet to even really experience it.____David Price is the Founder of The Safety Pouch, a driving tool intended to store essential documentation, minimizing movement within the vehicle, and facilitating safer and more efficient traffic stops....