Free-dom-Free-ish-Free

I officially launched my blog Black Girl Under Construction on June 19, 2019. Happy Birthday to Black Girl Under Construction (throws confetti) I started this blog to share my experiences as a black woman and to provide encouragement to black women. I particularly launched it on a day which is a celebration of freedom for black people.

June 19th or as our culture calls it Junteenth I celebrate Juneteenth every year, because so many of our ancestors died so I could live free. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in Amerikkka.  Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed in Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now FREE. News spread a little slower back then the emancipation proclamation was signed by President Lincoln which had become official January 1, 1863. So for an additional 2 years black people could of been living free, but they were still enslaved.

 Writing 👩🏾‍💻 my blog is freedom cause my ancestors were denied 🙅🏾 the right to read and write for a long time. Their were laws passed that denied blacks the freedom to read and write. Now I can freely read and write and publish my blog without having to hide it or die over it. We have our rights, freedoms and
liberties but that scope of freedom in the eye of white supremacy and racism is narrow.

Is being killed in the streets by paid public servants freedom?

On May 25th, 2020 in Minneapolis Minnesota a man
by the name of George Floyd started his day free, but ended up dying on the
street over a counterfeit $20.00 bill for 8 minutes and 46 seconds the freedom
was sucked out of him, the freedom to breathe, the freedom to live, the freedom
to be treated as a human being all died in 8 minutes and 46 seconds by the
hands of law enforcement.



On May 25th 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona in my home
state a man by the name of Dion Johnson fell asleep in his car and was awaken
with a gun in his by face by highway patrol and with no video footage, as the
officer who shot him had his body camera turned off, Dion went from freely
sleeping in his car on the side of the road, to losing that freedom resulting
in his unwarranted death in a matter of minutes and again by the hands of law
enforcement.

On March 13th 2020 in Louisville Kentucky a woman
by the name of Brianna Taylor was freely asleep in her home when she was
murdered by the police with a no knock warrant (WTH) which cops busted through her
and her boyfriend’s door and began to shoot at what her boyfriend thought was a
home invasion, Brianna could not even be free in her own home. Another black
life taking by the hands of law enforcement.

On February 23, 2020 Ahmaud Aubrey was running down the
street, in Brunswick Georgia freely getting some fresh air, and running freely
down the street exercising when he was profiled and tracked down by 2 white
supremacists who allegedly thought he was a home burglar, pursued and murdered him
on the street.

I cringe every time I see or hear another unwarranted murder particularly by law enforcement that could have been avoided or could have been handled another way but it is too late because that person is already dead. Our freedom is criminalized and demonized, our freedom turns into allegations, and well they shouldn’t of resisted, or the biggest propaganda since Make Amerikkka Great Again, “I was afraid for my life”, well what about the person you killed, you didn’t think they were afraid for their life?

Tamika Mallory is a prominent activist while she was in Minneapolis for the death of George Floyd she gave a speech that rang so true, she stated,

"America has looted black people. America
looted the Native Americans when they first came here, looting is what you do.
We learned it from you. We learned violence from you. If you want us to do
better, then damnit, you do better.” —Tamika Mallory, Nat. Co-Chair of Women's
March

 Our freedom has been looted, our lives have been looted, our finances have been looted, our health have been looted, our education have been looted our businesses have been looted, our home ownership have been looted and future generations are being looted.

Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, but are we free? We are hunted down and killed in the streets like animals, we die at a higher rate during a pandemic, we are paid less than our counterparts especially black women, we are discriminated against, we are redlined or denied home loans and business capital loans is this the freedom that was envisioned? Why does being black in Amerikkka have to be so negative, tiring and exhausting. Race motivates the countries laws and acts. Every time white supremacy wants to oppress black people, they create a policy or pass a law. Freedom for black people in Amerikkka is restricting, denial, redlining, death and devastation from mob lynchings, to segregation, to the Tulsa Black Wall Street massacre, to the denial of the right to vote, to the 13th amendment and to the 1993 Crime Bill which incarcerated more than 1 million black men and women as of today.

What would freedom look like for black people, REPARATIONS to close the wealth gap, so people can own more homes, have capital for businesses, funds for education, and better overall health and wellness. Let black people live freely. #Freedom

Happy Juneteenth

XOXO

BGUC