{"id":324185,"date":"2020-06-03T06:02:30","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T20:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=324185"},"modified":"2020-06-03T06:02:30","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T20:02:30","slug":"all-lives-cant-matter-until-black-lives-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/all-lives-cant-matter-until-black-lives-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018All lives can\u2019t matter until black lives matter\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d protesters demonstrate along Beach Road in San Jose yesterday. The peaceful demonstration, organized by Zoe Travis, will run from Monday to Friday, from 8am to 9am. (BEA CABRERA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thus said Zoe Travis, who started a one-person demonstration last Monday along the intersection of San Jose and Beach Road, promising to devote one hour of her time every morning until this Friday to hold up a placard that says \u201cBlack Lives Matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yesterday, she was joined by some people she knew and by many she did not know\u2014with the collective goal of amplifying the voices of people of color\u2014and Travis is inviting the CNMI community to join them and make this cause louder.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday we are protesting the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and we are protesting for all the people of color who have been killed by police in the United States. This issue should be close to everybody because nobody should have to fear for their life when they interact with the police or anybody in our country because of the color of their skin,\u201d Travis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica was founded on discrimination, racism, and slavery and those institutions have carried on in our modern institutions. They\u2019ve made it impossible for black people to live their lives fully in this country and it\u2019s an issue that should scare and worry everybody. As a white person who has benefited from those institutions my whole life, it is my responsibility to be out here and to say we are not okay with it,\u201d Travis added.<\/p>\n

George Floyd, an African American, was killed last week when a Minneapolis police officer who was arresting him pinned him to the pavement by putting his knee on the handcuffed man\u2019s neck. His plea to the officer, \u201cI can\u2019t breathe,\u201d has become a rallying cry for the many protests that ensued and spread across America. The police officer has been fired, arrested, and charged with murder.<\/p>\n

Travis, who is white, said her big issue with racism, specifically with people of color, \u201cis that I have siblings who were adopted from Cambodia. They\u2019re not black but they are people of color that have long-term issues with the police. I don\u2019t want to worry for them. I don\u2019t want to worry for my black friends either,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Travis pointed out that the month of June is also Pride Month, which is observed by the LGBTQ community. This, she said, makes their protest timely and appropriate. \u201cBlack LGBT people out there are much more likely to be killed by the police than any white person. They are so unprotected, vulnerable, and more likely to get killed for as simple as suspected forgery and this is why I will never say all lives matter until black lives matter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning\u2019s protest at the San Jose intersection was Leah Tarkong\u2019s first time to join a protest. She said she did it because she wants change. \u201cMy sign says \u2018injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere\u2019 and even though we are not in the U.S. mainland, we are still American citizens and it is our duty to show our unity and our support for our black brothers and sisters,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Zoe Travis, who started the \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d demonstration at the Atkins-Kroll intersection on Saipan, holds up a banner seeking justice for George Floyd, who was killed when a Minneapolis police officer held him down with a knee on his neck. Travis was joined by other protesters at the demonstration, which will run this week from Monday to Friday, from 8am to 9am, along Beach Road in San Jose. (BEA CABRERA.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe are all part of the same planet. We are all human beings and it is not fair [people of color] are being openly murdered. [Despite being] covered by the media, the government and the police are not changing their ways and mentality. We need change and show our solidarity. We have a black community here in the CNMI and, even though [it is] small, we just want to show them they have our support,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Educator and Mount Carmel School president Dr. Galvin Deleon Guerrero joined the peaceful protest before going to work. \u201cWe are running a very busy schedule at school\u2014closing it, planning for graduation, and the opening of the new school year but not too busy to allot an hour for this cause. \u2026I\u2019m standing with African Americans who have suffered centuries of systemic racism and injustice. By no means do I condone any kind of violence or rioting but, by the same token, I don\u2019t condone injustice either,\u201d he said. \u201cSo while there is not much we can do thousands of miles away, the least we can do is raise awareness and stand in solidarity for other people of color who have suffered enough already. When you live on an island that is so isolated, it doesn\u2019t mean we should be isolated because, when you consider how interconnected our world is today, it is important not to bury our heads in the sand and ignore what\u2019s going on. As an educator, I teach my students to study their history, study civics, and to learn how to make their own communities better places to live,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Floyd\u2019s death has caused many riots and violent protests that created havoc in different states in the mainland. Many have been active on social media and many like Travis have resorted to peaceful protests like a moment of silence of people in Washington, D.C. outside the National Museum of African American Culture, a walkathon in Flint, Michigan, and people in Colorado lying face down with their hands behind their backs in front of the Colorado\u2019s Capitol, chanting \u201cI can\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almay Williams from San Vicente plans to join the protest that Travis will be doing for the rest of the week because she wants to fight for the people who are vulnerable. While holding back tears, she said, \u201c\u2026I have black friends who are dear to me and I don\u2019t know who will be next.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thus said Zoe Travis, who started a one-person demonstration last Monday along the intersection of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":324212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-324185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}