Inspiration

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face-down in a street. Two other police officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, assisted Chauvin in restraining Floyd. Lane had also pointed a gun at Floyd’s head prior to Floyd being put in handcuffs. A fourth police officer, Tou Thao, prevented bystanders from intervening.

Prior to being placed on the ground, Floyd had exhibited signs of anxiety, complaining about having claustrophobia, and being unable to breathe. After being restrained, he became more distressed, still complaining of breathing difficulties, of the knee on his neck, and of fear of imminent death. After several minutes, Floyd stopped speaking. For the last few minutes, he lay motionless and Officer Kueng found no pulse when urged to check.Despite this, Chauvin ignored pleas from bystanders to lift his knee from Floyd’s neck.

The following day, after videos made by witnesses and security cameras became public, all four officers were fired. Two autopsies, and one autopsy review, found Floyd’s death to be a homicide.

Floyd’s murder led to worldwide protests against police brutality, police racism, and lack of police accountability. Source (Wikipedia)

Here, shortly after this tragic event, our friend Martin Roach wrote with vigour 5 reasons why black people aren’t here to solve the problem alone. As Martin says it’s up to industry and business leaders (as well as others) to hold people to account. These problems affect ALL of us and we must ALL seek to solve them, not just when the news brings it to our attention.

Black people aren’t here to solve the problem alone