Dr. Ishmail Pamsm-Conteh
Unless you have not been living on mother earth, or are without access to 24-hour news, you would have heard about the death of George Floyd. He is the African American who was brutally killed by police officers in full public view on Monday 25 May 2020 in the UN city of Minneapolis. A white police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he was being arrested, while three other policemen aided him in the apparent murder. For about 16 times he repeatedly cried out: “I can’t breathe”; until he took his last. As he cried for his mother “mama”, who had already passed on two years ago.
Dereck has now been charged with second-degree Murder and second-degree Manslaughter for Floyd’s death. He and the three others have been sacked from the police force. The video of the incident shown around the world is heart-shattering to watch.
George Floyd’s death has unified the whole world: from the US, Europe, to Australia, Asia and Africa in condemning not only police brutality, but also racism. Demonstrations have been held in several major cities in the world bringing to the fore yet again the issue of racism which most black people suffer in the West.
The “Black Lives Matter” movement has become the natural leader of the demonstrations. Their statement “No Justice, No Peace” has been the main rallying cry. Many ordinary people of colour, celebrities and other professionals have recounted their own personal experiences with racism and racist behaviour, from all over the world. The cry for racial justice is overwhelming.
The issue of racism and racist behaviour has its roots in slavery and colonialism. George’s death has again ignited the anger arising from those two issues. It is little wonder that in the city of Bristol in the UK, the statue of slave trader Andrew Coulson was torn down and rolled into the Bristol harbour. Which incidentally was the very place, where ships, during the Atlantic Slave Trade, would begin their voyage from Great Britain to Africa to collect and transport slaves to the Caribbean and to the Americas. His profit from the slave trade made him enormously wealthy. To recognise his philanthropist work from the exploits of the trade, he was celebrated in his city of Bristol where his statue was just one of the many memorials to his name. And for some people who are descendants of slavery this was an insult to their slave ancestors and to their ancestry. Hence, the statue has to go.
During this incident, the police force in Bristol did not intervene, explaining that their intervention may have escalated matters, something they were keen to avoid. How wise of them!
Also, the 18th century monument of slave trader Robert Milligan in the West India Docks in London’s Isle of Dogs has been torn down as the “Black Lives Matter” protests continue in the UK. There are now renewed calls for the tearing down of the statue of Cecil Rhode’s at Oriel College at Oxford University. Rhodes is another individual who, it has been said, was the earlier pioneer of apartheid – a direct product of colonialism.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has also established a committee to look into the sixty or so statues in the city of London, including street names, to see how they reflect London’s multi-cultural society.
What should resonate George’s death with us in Sierra Leone, is that many innocent lives have been lost at the hands of the police, which is not new in our country, if one goes back to our history since independence in 1961.
George’s death has seen calls for police reforms in the US and elsewhere. The response has been immediate. For example, in the US, Congress has proposed a bill titled “The Justice in Policing Bill 2020” introduced on Monday 8 June. The bill will, among other things, force federal police to use body camera, ban chokeholds, eliminate unannounced police raids and make it easier to hold police liable for civil rights violations. The law makers of Minneapolis have now vowed to disband the city’s police department, replacing it with a new system of police safety.
Further afield as in France, the country has now banned police from using chokehold when arresting a suspect.
In solidarity with George’s death, many speeches have been made by notable and eminent persons the world over. In the UK for example, Prime minister Boris Johnson, in paying tribute to George spoke against racism whilst supporting the individual’s right to a peaceful protest.
In the United States, on Monday 8 June Democratic Congressmen and Congresswomen led by the Nancy Pelosi, took a knee in solidarity with the unfortunate killing of George, prior to proposing the Justice in Policing Bill.
One of the streets, 16 St NW, just a few steps to the White House has been renamed “ Black Lives Matter Plaza,” by Washington DC’s mayor, Muriel Bowser.
105 writers from across Africa and the diaspora have co-signed a letter of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Sadly, I did not recognise any Sierra Leonean name on that list. (If there are any, I apologise for the mistake). Their letter in part reads:
“We note in dismay that what Malcolm X said in Ghana in 1964 that ‘for the twenty million of us in America who are of African descent, it's not an American dream; it's an American nightmare’ remains true for 37 million in 2020”.
This is a true reflection of what the situation has since Malcolm X made that speech way back in 1964. George’s funeral in his home city of Houston, Texas, on Tuesday 8 June was well attended by Judges, the Mayor of Houston, and several other public figures including civil rights activist, Reverend Al Sharpton who delivered an emotional eulogy.
Former Vice President of the US, and the Democratic party candidate for the 2020 presidential elections, Joe Biden, in joining the funeral via a previously recorded video message, stated that “justice should flow like a river.” He also stated: “Why in this nation, too many black Americans wake up knowing they would lose their lives in the course of just living their life?” A good question, if you ask me, given that African Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers.
Dr. Steve Wells was another speaker present at the funeral. He is a senior pastor at the South Main Baptist Church. In delivering his sermon, he said:
“…if anybody says ‘I love God’ and yet does not love his brother, he is a liar. Because if you have not loved your brother who you have seen, then you cannot love God who you have not seen. And he has given us this command anybody who loves God must also love his brother.”
What a fitting quotation! As most of us claim to love our brothers. Some of us even fondly call ourselves, “bro”, to show affection.
A veteran civil movement activist, Reverend William Lawson, who worked with the late Martin Luther King, has this to say: “this is a turning point, back in the days when I used to be part of the marching, all the marchers were black, but now there are white people who know the story, there are Hispanics who know the story , there are Asians who know the story.” This shows that the issue of racism is no longer an issue just for the black man or woman.
George Floyd’s death has united the world, in demanding change. Those changes have already begun to be felt. From holding perpetrators to account, as has happened to ex-police officer, Derek Chauvin and the three other policemen now charged for George’s killing, to the proposed Justice in Policing Bill 2020, by the US congress, making it easier to prosecute police officers for misconduct; in France which has now banned, chokehold during a police arrest; and in the UK where statues of those who benefitted from the slavery and colonialism are being torn down.
He was buried close to his mother, whom he cried out for, as he was dying.
No doubt George Floyd’s life would continue to be celebrated as the US and other countries continue to reflect on their past, hoping things would change. As someone once said, “we cannot change the past but we can change the consequences of the past.” Can Sierra Leone be a part of the change that is now sweeping across the world?
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