Hola Mijas,
On this Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, we continue with our series of blogs that we hope will help educate other women across the country about the issue of social injustice within the black community.
The Mijas reached out to strong, powerful black women to ask a question that might not be so simple for some to understand.
What does Black Lives Matter mean to you?
Alyshea Johnson is a biracial woman mixed with Black and Mexican. She grew up in El Paso but is currently living in Hawaii with her son and husband. She graduated from UTEP and holds two degrees in Biology and Marketing. She is an Environmental Compliance Specialist currently working as a contractor for the US Army. She has a passion for traveling and appreciates how it allows you to learn about different people and cultures. She enjoys indulging in hiking and time on the beach. She believes that activism is a pivotal building block to help affect change for the better and is always willing to fight for justice everywhere.
This is what Black Lives Matter means to Alyshea:
When we shout Black Lives Matter we are shouting to the world “We are worthy. We have value. We are important. We are human. We are tired of being killed. We matter.”
We are standing for justice, for equality, for anti-racism, for the basic human decency that everyone deserves. Black lives matter does not mean that we matter more it means that we need help now. That this society hasn’t cared about us for a long time and it’s time for that to change. That our lives are literally in danger every day we walk out the house just for existing.
This country has had such a long history of social injustice and systemic racism. Treating black people unfairly and less than human has been so interwoven into society that some people can’t even see it happening. But it’s there and it’s real. I live in a world where every day I’m scared for my loved one’s safety, where people are literally being killed because they have darker skin. We’re tired of living in world where black lives are not as valued as white lives. Instead we should be living in a world where everyone is valued simply for being a human being.
Black lives matter is so important because every day I hear about yet another person who’s been killed or treated unjustly and I can’t take it anymore. We can’t take it anymore. We’re tired. We’re angry. We’re hurt. And we’ve felt this way for such a long time. That is why this movement is so important. More and more people are beginning to understand and acknowledge our struggle and pain. And that’s a good thing because it’s going to take so many of us to see the change. I encourage everyone to keep learning, keep researching, and keep speaking out.
Black lives matter is important because even though we’ve been pushed down and treated unjust we won’t give up and we won’t give in. We are going to keep fighting.
Everyone deserves to live in a world where they feel safe.
Mija, yes you can…. help end racism and injustice everywhere!!!
Mija, Yes you can. 