28 year old Sandra Bland was found dead in her cell at Waller County Jail weeks ago, police say that she hanged herself with a plastic trash bag. She was incarcerated and placed there after allegedly assaulting a police officer during a routine traffic stop on July 10, 2015.

Police reports from Waller County ruled her death as a suicide, but as tension rises in the community and the Black Lives Matter campaign is taking the internet and news by storm, more and more people are beginning to believe that her death was in fact murder. The Texas Ranger and the FBI are investigating her death, and the death of many other young African American men and women such as; 7 year old Aiyana Jones from Detroit, Michigan who was shot by a police officer during a house raid on May 16, 2010.  

As social media is sent into a frenzy, we are not the only ones touched by the power of this movement. Previous President, Barack Obama refers to the Zimmerman v. Martin trial saying, “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago”. 17 year old Martin from Sanford, Florida, was shot dead February 26, 2012, outdoors by his neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman, who was later charged and acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter. Trayvon’s death sparked the Black Lives Matter Movement, making police question every move they make.

In New York, New York, Eric Garner age 43, died from a chokehold by police officer Daniel Pantaleo as well as the police’s compression of Garner’s chest on July 17, 2014. Video proof shot by a civilian bystander shows Garner being held to the ground a choked by Panteleo, Garner repeatedly shouts “I can’t breathe,” which the officers disregarded. Garner was being arrested on the suspicion of selling untaxed cigarettes.

Michael Brown age 18, was shot by police officer Darren Wilson on a street August 9, 2014. After a struggle Wilson shot Brown multiple times, killing him. Both a St. Louis County grand jury and the United States Department of Justice decided not to charge Wilson. This decision resulted in several waves of the Ferguson unrest, as well as the “Hands up, don’t shoot” saying.

50 year old Walter Scott was shot by police officer Michael Slager on April 4, 2015 during a traffic stop, in North Charleston, South Carolina. Slager was charged with murder after video surfaced showing him shooting Scott multiple times from behind while Scott was fleeing.

25 year old Freddie Gray fell into a coma while being transported by police after they arrested him. Gray died a week later on April 4, 2015 of injuries to his spinal cord. Charges have been filed against six police officers, all of whom were allegedly present during the attack, after a medical examiner’s report that ruled Gray’s death a homicide.  

Many other men and women of color have been wrongfully murdered, and the Black Lives Matter movement is gaining more of a following in 2015. Racism isn’t over in America, it was just well hidden until now, As February is Black History Month many, including myself, feel that we should remember those fallen members of society and remember the ways in which their lives were stolen. As we all know, history can repeat itself if action is not taken to prevent that, and we can not take those actions if our youth and future leaders are not aware of the previous actions of society.