Why our black man keep dying? Last week a man named Anthony Hill was shot and killed by police officers for no reason. He was unarmed, naked and he was having an episode due to his bipolar condition. Being BLACK is not a crime nor is it a weapon to give the officers permission to shoot. He was an Air Force Veteran and from what I was told by my friend who knew him was that he was not a violent person, just a person suffering from mental illness. Hopefully, Georgia will convict the officer who shot in for no reason but I would not be surprised if they just swept it under the rug. I am tired of morning the loss of black males due to police brutality.

Lately, I have been thinking about going to law school to fight for inequality for people who are being discriminated against. The book that we are reading has got me thinking about a lot. Law school would be a very challenging task, but I know I can do it. If I can make a difference and change the minds of people who are feeding into this social justice system then that would make me so happy. I think I may have found my niche of things and being a sociology major has helped me to find that. Back when I first transfer to GSU this past semester I was so lost and did not know what direction I was going on. I found my passion when I was in the introduction to sociology and we started talking about inequality. I want to say that was the start of it all and since I started reading The New Jim Crow it makes my mind race and I want to do more to help with the problem.

Yes, racism still exist.  Look at all of this crime on black youth, men and women. Police officers are just shooting mainly black people for no reason or its because they look suspicious. It all started with Trayvon Martin and it just keeps happening. WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON!? It is so sad that nothing has really changed. Being a police officer does not give them any right to shoot anybody and I thought police officers were there to protect us. How can they protect us if they are the ones doing the killing? The system is really corrupted and I wish I could do something about it. In an article that I was reading it said that 74 men and women were killed by cops since 1994 through 2014. That is very dishearting it makes me not want to have children because I do not want to put them in a situation where I am going to be in fear. This world is just crazy and I am tired of the injustice of people period. When is America going to wake up and realize what is going on? I put this song in this post called, “One Love” by Elle Varner because it really speaks to the situations that have happen and why can’t there just be one love for everybody.

In my opinion, the criminal justice is racist and I do feel that they do not protect people of color. In the recent events, the system has failed to protect their citizens. We have not received any justice due to the cops killing people.  In all three of the killings, the officers have not been charged. If the situation was vice versa it would have been a different  scenario. Even in the past the criminal justice system was targeting black males and given them a harsher charge than their white counterparts. The war on drugs is a wonderful example of it. Will the criminal justice system will ever be equal?

A protest march from Selma to Montgomery was on Sunday, March 7, 1965. Protesters barely made it past Bridge before Alabama state troopers and local police try to get them to turn around. When the protesters refused, they were attacked, sending a lot of people to the hospital (over 50 people). This is the reason why March 7th is known as “Bloody Sunday.” Today marks the 50th anniversary of this march. Take the time out to realize what this day means. Black lives matter and it needs be to understand the effort and sacrifices that were made. 

The booked Nickel and Dimed was a very interesting read, I will give a little background of what happened. She went undercover to Three states to see if you could live on a low- wage and survive financially. The three states that she visits were: Key West, Maine, and Minnesota. All of those three states her theory was proved right, you cannot work at a low wage job and live comfortably. In order to live comfortably you would have to work more than one job. All in all, I did like the book even though sometimes I felt that she was being very sarcastic and rude.

In the book Nickle and Dimed, Barbara had to take a drug test for Walmart. Long story short she went to the local GNC to get a detox so she could pass the test. The big question is that are drug test really important? In my opinion is that they are important and they serve a purpose. Reason being is that drug test often weed out who will get to work in their store. It’s pretty much common sense to me, why would you take drugs knowing the drug test it the next day.  I know they have different stuff you can take to pass the test, but I am pretty sure they are not 100% effective.  I would not want somebody serving me food or helping me get a product while they are high or whatever else. All in all, employers should be drug testing all potential hires.

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I am reading “Nickle and Dimed,” and there is a part of chapter two that caught me by surprise.  She is working in Maine as a maid and one of her fellow co-workers (Holly), twisted her ankle really bad and she called her boss and he did not really care. So, the author got on the phone and she went off on him because the girl is hurt really bad. Holly continued to work on her broken ankle, knowing she needed to seek medical attention, but she was afraid to miss anymore days. Will employers sacrifice their employees health to get the job done? I know the book is old, but it makes me wonder if there are employers like that. It is crazy how in 2001, the overwork, and the underpaid jobs really do not care about their employee’s.

 OVERWORKING AND UNDERPAID 

Do you ever get enough breaks or even a break? Do you get paid for the correct number of hours you have worked?  The answer to these questions according to the book, the answer is NO! The two jobs that she is working does not equal the amount of work she puts into it to the amount of money that she makes. That is just absurd and crazy, the bosses work their employees until they are blue in the face and are suffering from different types of aches and pains. The workplace is just crazy for the underwork.

In class, we talked about the different groups that implemented change through social movements. I think that is amazing how people can come together and make a positive movement. It only takes a few to make a difference. For example, the movement that is for Furgeson turned into a nationwide epidemic. It shows no matter what happen we can all come together and make a difference. Having power can be very beneficial .