Spark a Change

Once again this week, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram have been flooded with outrage, frustration and sadness, over the non indictment of the officer who killed Eric Garner. This was the second case we heard gain national attention within the past couple weeks that did not indict a police officer who had killed someone. But this outrage seemed different from any of the other recent cases. People were upset for Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, but when we were hit with the Michael Brown case, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

This was an encounter that didn’t deal with an overzealous person in the neighborhood, or someone on the street who was racist, this issue dealt with a police officer, a person who is paid to protect us and keep us safe, who killed a young man.

We know this happens all the time, but when you get back-to-back stories on a National scale you can’t help but see it. (Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Aiyana Jones, and Tamir Rice) But what comes next, after we cannot take it anymore? What do we do from here? How do we make a change?

I have always talked about change and how we need to fix are system so innocent lives will not be taken, but I never really did anything to change it. But this past Thursday, the Black Student Union at my school, California State University, Fullerton, decided to “March for Justice.” We protested and marched for almost three miles from the school to the Fullerton Police Department. Yes, we got crazy looks, people flipping us off, and even a lady who acted like she was shooting us, but the amount of support and love trumped the negative comments we got.

I could see the curiosity in the people in their cars as they drove by. I could see the passion some people had when they honked their horns and threw their fist in the air. I saw young children looking and wondering what we were upset about. I just hope and pray their parents talked to them about the injustices in the world that affect us all.

My ultimate goal in life is to educate the future in anyway possible, and even if they saw one of our signs and thought about it for five seconds, at least we got their attention. At least we can use our voices to spread our message and hopefully we can get others to join us.

Being apart of that protest opened my eyes and sparked a change in me. It made me excited to be involved in my community, read up on laws and props so I can vote, join more protests, and let everyone around me know what I stand up for and what I believe in. This is my life, this is your community, this is our world, so, together, lets change our future.

This is a video that  Eze Egeonuigwe, a California State University Fullerton student filmed and edited of the CSUF “March for Justice” Protest.