Bleeding On The Rubble Where Liberty Should Be
It is hard to feel relief or safety in the aftermath of the Derek Chauvin verdict.
The embedded white supremacy in America makes it that way.
Where were you when the jury declared Derek Chauvin guilty on all charges for the murder of George Floyd on April 20th, 2021?
Personally, I was working on an article on how police officers have gotten away with maiming and killing Black people. I had been given the assignment to write the piece no matter the outcome of the trial. I had just begun polishing up the draft to submit as the judge read the jury’s decision. My mother and one of my older sisters was in the living room with me. As the judge read the first verdict, the silence in the room and outside was massive. It was as if the wind and the earth made a joint decision to pause if only for these few seconds. At the first “guilty” verdict, I exhaled and pumped my fist reflexively. I watched Chauvin’s eyes, the rest of his face covered by the medical mask that’s commonplace during this time of the pandemic. He looked as stunned as I felt, but obviously for different reasons. He probably never felt he would’ve been found guilty on all three charges. Imagine. To be that callous, that sure of your white privilege and the protections afforded by the system and to realize at that moment you wouldn’t have them in full like…
