i know some people may not be aware of what’s going on despite the media attention recently on both these tragic deaths so i thought i’d make a post about just two of the lives we’re grieving.
a few years ago, a young black boy asked his teacher what he should do if he was ever pulled over by police. “if they pull you over, make sure your hands are on top of the steering wheel, don’t reach for anything,” was the reply from his teacher.
the young boy then answered. “man, why we gotta do all that just for people not to kill us?”
that young boy was daunte demetrius wright. only 20 years old when he was shot and killed by a police officer in minnesota, april 11th 2021. he was killed during a traffic stop, originally he was stopped due to having an air freshener in his rear window. he called his mum as he was terrified for his life. not only was daunte killed, his body was left on the ground outside for hours. this happened 15 minutes away from where george floyd lost his life at the hands of police last may. daunte wrights former teacher, courteney ross, was george floyds girlfriend. “it’s enough that Floyd is gone, but for one of my youths to be gone as well. he was just a wonderful, beautiful boy.”
daunte had a son. he’ll be turning two in july. a beautiful baby boy who will grow up without a father. who will only hear stories of the lovable young man, the kid everybody looked up to, the witty class clown, the talented basketball player with a dream to play for the nba. daunte wright will never be able to see his son grow up, to teach him to tie his shoe laces or play basketball with him. because of a fucked up, unfair system and a police officer who decided, like we’ve seen so many do, that black life wasn’t worth protecting and treasuring that day.
the police officer who killed daunte wright, her name is kimberly a. potter. she’s been a police officer for over 25 years and she claims she went for her taser, and accidentally pulled out her gun. she claims this was an accident. but on average; a taser is 8oz and a gun is 34oz. anyone would be able to feel a difference, and even if you and i couldn’t, a police officer would be able to feel the difference after 25 years within the force. she has since resigned and been charged with second degree manslaughter, which isn’t good enough.
adam toledo was just 13 years old when he was shot and killed by a chicago police officer, eric stillman, march 29th 2021. sadly, his death went under the radar until chicago police released the vile and graphic footage of his murder this week.
adam was running away from the police when he stopped, threw what looked to be a gun through a gap in a fence, turned around and raised his hands as stillman ordered him to. this wasn’t enough. adam complying wasn’t enough for this officer, who then shot him once in the chest. eric stillman has had four use of force reports and three complaints filed against him since mid 2017.
adams mother described him as goofy, always cracking jokes, with a big imagination and curiosity. he loved animals, riding his bike and taco bell. adam was classified as a special education student and had the kindest soul according to those around him. the police and media want to showcase adam as a victim of the streets, a boy who had no one. this isn’t true. adam lived with his mother, his grandmother and his two siblings, all of whom loved him dearly. his father was in his life, the toledos are a tight knit family.
the media want to bring up the area, little village, the area where adam tragically lost his life. an area known for a lot of gang violence specifically from the latino kings gang. adam wasn’t from little village. he didn’t grow up there. he grew up in the west lawn area. they also want to bring up his nickname, “lil homicide.” a nickname doesn’t mean you deserve to die. a nickname doesn’t mean a child deserves to lose his life at the hands of someone he should be able to trust. the media want to portray his family as neglectful which is clearly just an attempt to push the blame onto someone else, and because the toledo’s are latinos and not white, they’re the first target. don’t let them shift the blame. this was a murder at the hands of a police officer. it’s that simple.
adam had so many dreams. dreams he’ll never get to achieve. sadly, one of these dreams was to be a police officer. adam complied. he did everything the officer asked him to. and it still wasn’t enough just because he was a latino boy. a 13 year old child killed. that’s the world we live in.
i’m going to leave some links to resources and petitions to sign. i urge you all to keep saying daunte and adams names, to do everything you possibly can. please don’t forget them, or any victim of systemic racism & police brutality after a week. we have to keep saying their names.
https://action.aclu.org/petition/stop-police-killing-communities
https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/gun-control-now-1
https://action.aclu.org/petition/divest-police-invest-black-and-brown-communities
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-this-petition-police-are-not-above-the-law-demand-the-doj-investigate-police-killings-and-harassment-of-african-americans
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/end-police-violence-petition
https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/supporting-black-lives-matter
https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a36144539/justice-for-adam-toledo-police-shooting/
https://twitter.com/supernaira/status/1383082844734558208?s=21
https://signatures.carrd.co/
https://www.thepetitionsite.com/289/578/851/the-chicago-police-department-shot-and-killed-a-13-year-old-kid-who-had-his-hands-up/
https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-daunte-wright?recruiter=1018078905&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_abi&recruited_by_id=c91a40b0-04a4-11ea-80e6-ed642f574480
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