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It’s about justice … and this ain’t it. Not yet. It’s only BARELY accountability. So, let’s keep it pushin’.
Derek Chauvin had just been found guilty on all counts, with sentencing to come. I texted the above message to a group chat with some friends.
I had been waiting with held breath alongside (over some airwaves) these friends for an hour that’d felt like eternity in an eye-blink. And I was relieved and slightly more hopeful about many things after hearing the verdict. I felt gratitude. But even then, I recognized that this might just be an outlier. We still have so many beloved dead and living to secure accountability for and FROM.
This verdict isn’t justice, to borrow from Rep. Cori Bush. Justice would be if George Floyd was still alive. This is BARELY accountability. But it’s still a step, if a small one. And that first one is always the hardest. We’ll keep it pushin’, keep that momentum, you can bet. Accountability can lead to justice like a river flows to the sea, as long as we keep pushing and striving. As long as we keep saying these names — keep our dead alive and their murderers SEEN AND KNOWN. And make it clear that as long as we and our dead can’t rest, neither shall anyone else. No more blissful ignorance and naivete. No more sidelines and fence-sitting for anyone. EVER.
