By Megha Poddar ’15 and Soven Bery ’15, Editors-In-Chief 

Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Akai Gurley, Tamir E. Rice, Tanesha Anderson, Darrien Hunt, John Crawford, Omar Abrego, Ezell Ford, Jordan Davis, Amadou Diallo, Oscar Grant, Kimani Gray, Sean Bell, Timothy Russell, Jonathan Ervin Jefferson, Renisha McBride, Patrick Dorismond, Ousmane Zongo, Timothy Stansbury Jr., Orlando Barlow, Aaron Campbell, Victor Steen, Steven Eugene Washington, Alonzo Ashley, Wendell Allen, Ronald Madison, James Brisette, Travares McGill, Ramarley Graham, Jonathan Ferrell, Dante Parker Donald Johnson, Duane Brown.

The list goes on.

These acts of violence, of ethnic and racial hatred, have undoubtedly been occurring for years and there has always been an air of mystery and questioning surrounding the killings. Was the officer provoked first? Did he actually have his hands up? Who fired the first shot? Was he threatening enough to be justly killed? Despite this sense of unknown surrounding many of the cases, everything became clear with the release of the video of Eric Garner’s death. There was no uncertainty that he was not threatening the police. There was no uncertainty that he informed them, “I can’t breathe.” There was no uncertainty that he died minutes later, under the fatal chokehold of a police officer.  And yet, on December 3rd, news poured in that the grand jury failed to indict the police officers involved with the death, essentially dehumanizing Garner by delegitimizing his civil rights ordained from the sole fact of being a human and American citizen.

If it has happened before, why now? Why is this movement so different from every other activist cause that has attempted to bring America together? Part of the answer to these questions lies in the fact that these events represent an alarming amount of injustice in the system we believe is the best in the world, and for many it is a wake up call showing that the residual effects of a subjugated group of people is still alive and well in a country that prides itself on liberty, equality and justice. And while these injustices primarily expose an unsettled history of racism towards the African American minority group, this fundamental problem within the justice system becomes troublesome for all oppressed groups within our society, excluding wealthy, white men for the most part.

So, what is the next step? As students in high school, it often seems as though there is nothing we can do– our voices will never be heard, our passion never felt. Nevertheless, it is clear that many people want to do something. Students want to seriously affect change and see that change implemented. One outlet for this frustration and anger is student protesting.

At the outset, protesting, to some, may appear futile– what is the point of marching and demanding reform? How can a few seventeen-year olds even make an impact in groups of thousands? What many people do not realize is that student activists are the essential key to creating lasting change and movement. As the next voting generation, we will be the ones to see these problems and concerns persist with generations to come if we do not do anything about it. We are just as responsible for the continuance of these killings as are the police officers that literally commit the crimes.

It is true– this set of racial injustice is merely a product of both a system and society that has, for centuries, given privilege and freedom to certain groups while completely subverting those very rights at the expense of others. Changing this would, in effect, require the complete re-framing of how our country places value and individual freedoms, a process that would take time and effort. So is it worth it- is trudging alongside hundreds of others in the rain while speaking out for the rights of the oppressed really going to make a difference? The same question probably crossed the minds of Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and they were written into history as leaders of fostering unprecedented change. What we need to realize is that we have the power to do the same. We have the power to make history.