We have our phones. Let’s use our voices, too. When you see something, don’t just film it in silence or film it and scream. Talk to everybody involved about how you are recording it and they have the opportunity to show themselves in their best light by acting properly.
The correct response to the “all lives matter” or “blue lives matter” rebuttal of the black lives matter movement is “yes.” All lives do matter. The fact that a disproportionate number of lives being lost are black is an important part of the equation. Asking for people to respect your right to life is not an insult or a challenge. When they respond that “other lives matter”, agree. Listen to them. I want to make blue lives safer and black lives and all lives. I am not opposed to taking steps to make our police safer. In fact, police feeling threatened is a major component in things getting out of hand. Think about this, if your 1 year old nephew reaches out and pokes you in the eye, it might hurt, but you would laugh. You would say “no!” and hold him at arms length. He is no threat. Instead, if that person were a full grown man and a stranger, your ability to control the situation diminishes greatly.
Just be being a calming voice, we can help.
What do they want now?
First of all, “they” are not a single entity with well reasoned goals. Collectively, I assume that “they” want our communities to be safer for everybody in general and specifically upon the point of black people and black men in regards to police action.
The police do the best they can with what they have. Everybody does. There is a minuscule fraction of people who want to do harm to somebody based on their race. The vast majority of police officers are doing the job of keeping the community safe. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and encourage them to take into account the safety of the community at large. I’d like to see little old ladies with body cameras doing the work of the police. You don’t need to muscle up and bully somebody if you’ve got the law on your side. A suspect who is a clear and present danger should be restrained by whatever force is necessary. That includes lethal force in some rare occasions.
The videos we’ve seen of people getting killed by the police almost invariably include 2 things and these things are not equal or offsetting. First, there is a suspect who is legitimately a person of interest to the police. Finally, there is a police response that is unnecessarily violent.
We have our phones. We are the eyes of the world. When we see something going down, we can record it.
Let’s also use our voices. If you have a camera pointed at a situation where a police officer might be doing wrong, remind them that the world is watching.