U.S : After Derek CHAUVIN was found guilty...

 

 

 

Dear friend, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of all charges in the murder of George Floyd.    As a Black woman who lives in Minneapolis, I am relieved by the verdict read out yesterday—and conscious of the fact that Chauvin was held out as a fall guy so that those in power could say that the system works while affecting very little change in the corrupt system and culture of police violence that got us to this point.    We knew that Derek Chauvin was guilty—Floyd's murder was caught on film for the world to see. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd cried out "I can't breathe," but even this was no guarantee that Chauvin would be held accountable. The American justice system is built on foundations of white supremacy and the protections the system offers cops who commit acts of violence against Black and brown people are extraordinary. Chauvin's own history in the Minneapolis Police Department proves that, as he had 18 complaints filed against him before he murdered George Floyd, but was allowed to continue on in his job because the system successfully shielded him from accountability time and time again.    It took extraordinary pressure from protesters in Minneapolis and across the country for nearly a year to earn even this small victory, and we need to recognize this as a victory for those activists—not a victory for the system. The system is still broken and we need to keep fighting to fix it.        Yesterday's verdict is one victory, but our work for racial justice isn't done. We've only just begun. That's why I'm asking you to support these 16 Black-led organizations working with frontline communities to stop anti-Black racism and end systemic oppression by chipping $1 to each of them right now.      Thank you,         Irna Landrum, Daily Kos.                           Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612.