I’m following the story about George Floyd. It’s unbelievable that he was choked on a sidewalk for eight minutes by police. The cops first said Floyd was resisting arrest, but I saw the video compiled by the New York Times. It does show that Floyd flopped on the ground, but it also shows that the officers were able to put him in the police vehicle. Then, he was dragged out of the vehicle and held down by two officers while another knelt on Floyd’s neck. The whole thing makes no sense.
Here are some questions I still don’t see answers for:
1. Why did Derek Chauvin kneel on Floyd’s neck even after handcuffing him? As onlookers pointed out in the video, Floyd was already on the ground in handcuffs. Why the need to inflict suffering on him? Plus, how could Chauvin have thought he could get away with this? There were onlookers and even people filming. The audacity of his actions angers and baffles me.
2. What were the other complaints already on Chauvin’s record? Has he been accused of using excessive force before? Also, he looked so comfortable with choking Floyd that it makes me worry that this isn’t the first time he’s knelt on a person’s neck. I’m waiting for others to come forward and report that he choked them, too. There’s already a report from NBC news that says since 2015 Minneapolis police have used neck restraints at least 237 times, and that during this period they choked forty-four people unconscious.
Thanks to a lovely email from a magazine called Creative Nonfiction, I received links to some very helpful resources that are highly educational in the areas of racism and racial profiling and the Black Lives Matter Movement. If you’re interested in learning more or helping, here are some links:
LEARN
• A timeline of events that led us here (via The Root)
• The 1619 Project (via New York Times Magazine)
• Read up on specific issues (via blacklivesmatter.carrd.co)
• Anti-racist books for kids and their caretakers (via White Whale Bookstore)
• A nonfiction anti-racist reading list (via Publishers Weekly)
•Ibram X. Kendi’s anti-racist reading list (via New York Times)
• Black Pittsburgh writers (via Pittsburgh City Paper)
• Articles, books, podcasts, teacher resources & more (Google Doc)
ACT
• Protesting? Know your rights (via ACLU)
• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice (via Medium)
• Commit to Justice in June (Google Doc)
• 20 actions white people and non-black POCs can take to show up for black people right now (via Medium)
• Contact your representatives (via My Reps)
• Vote
SUPPORT
• Black-owned bookstores (via Publishers Weekly)
• Another list of black-owned bookstores (via Lit Hub)
• Black Lives Matter (Donations)
• Movement for Black Lives (Donations)
• Bail Funds (Donations)
• Even more suggestions (via The Cut)
FOLLOW
• Black Lives Matter | @Blklivesmatter
• ACLU | @ACLU
• NAACP | @NAACP
• Legal Defense Fund | @NAACP_LDF
• Color of Change | @ColorOfChange
• Equal Justice Initiative | @eji_org
Monic Ductan 
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