Stacy Graham-Hunt (opinion): Three choices in fight against injustice
Stacy Graham-Hunt
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People wave Black Lives Matter flags in Minneapolis last week.Getty Images
Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict taught me that there are three roles I can play in any fight against any injustice, big or small. I can be a spectator, a reporter or defender.
Last year, I watched a viral video of Chauvin, a cop from Minnesota, kneel another on the neck of another man, George Floyd, for nearly 9 minutes in broad daylight in a public street. I went against my own rule and watched the video. I told myself I wouldn’t watch anymore viral videos of real people hurting or torturing other people. But I watched this one because it seemed to change the people around me. They were eager to become more educated and informed about why people like Chauvin kill people like Floyd. They wanted to know what they could do so I wouldn’t look at them the same way the world looked at Chauvin.
Stacy Graham-Hunt: Call me Black, not BIPOC
Stacy Graham-Hunt
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Hundreds of people protest police brutality in Danbury last summer after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media
With every generation comes a new name for Black people. Most recently, white people, many of whom, who work for non-profits and in other organizations claim to improve conditions for Black people have adopted a term for this generation.
The term is “BIPOC.” It stands for Black, Indigenous, People of Color. It’s useless. Do not address me this way.
When my ancestors were kidnapped from Africa, shackled and chained to boats and brought to the United States 400 years ago, white slave owners beat us and killed us if we didn’t give up our African customs. They tortured my forefathers for using the names they were born with.