Protesters in Seattle: If you're only marching for George Floyd, you're doing it wrong

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I grew up in the 90s in Seattle. As kids, we had cap guns and rollerblades, and our finest moments were spent outside doing everything kids in the 90s did. Although we had lots of fun, there was always something much much deeper lurking beneath the surface and biding its time before it would make an appearance.

Fast-forward to my teenage years and my mom started having talks with my brothers about how to interact with the police. At the time, I thought it was a bunch of bull-crap because as long as my brothers didn’t do anything wrong, they would be OK. We lived in Seattle, after all — one of the most diverse cities in the country. If there was one city which would be the exception to those stories we heard every so often about police brutality and prejudice against black men and women, surely, I presumed, it would be mine.

But I was let down.

My first time seeing for myself that the SPD wasn’t above brutality was in 2010, when Officer James J. Lee ran into a convenience store and assaulted a friend of mine. Still, I figured it was one-and-done thing because Seattle isn’t like that — and if something wasn’t directly affecting me, then I didn’t pay it much mind.

Time went on, however, and the stories kept rolling in. Eventually, SPD added a notch to its belt that so many other police departments across the US have.

On August 30, 2010 former SPD Officer Ian Birk killed a Native American man by the name of John T Williams. The Firearms Review Board investigated the shooting and ruled that they would not pursue a prosecution. The day after that ruling — February 16th — Ian Birk resigned from SPD. John T Williams and his family got keepsakes, but did they get justice?

Then, on February 21, 2016 Che Taylor was gunned down after complying with Seattle Police officers. According to Officers Michael Spaulding and Scott Miller, they observed a man with a holstered gun and recognized Che as the man with the holstered gun.The inquest jury concluded that Che Taylor was trying to comply with the police commands as he was shot, but that officers likely feared for their lives and so couldn’t be prosecuted. Che Taylor was a black man. His family described the decision not to prosecute as “insulting” and filed a civil rights lawsuit.

Fast-forward to today, and Seattle is seeing protests after the death of another black man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Here is where me and others in Seattle tend to disagree until they listen. I support George Floyd and the global movement his death started. He gave black people a platform to be heard first, and that matters. But I live in Seattle and I am black. I have black brothers, cousins, uncles — so I have a duty to myself and to them to demand that Seattle police be held accountable for the black lives they have taken and the black families they have hurt. While I appreciate that people have rallied around George Floyd and Breonna Taylor internationally, I think it’s time for us each to demand local change from our own police or the movement won’t have as lasting an impact as it otherwise could.

Seattle has become too comfortable being silent about black lives being lost here in our city. We’ve all heard the saying “Change has to happen at home first before it can affect the world.” Seattle is my home and I must hold SPD accountable for the black lives they’ve taken here where I live.

Today I’m remembering Shaun Fuhr, Malik Williams, Charleena Lyles, Tony McDade and countless other lives lost due to the actions of my own city’s local police force. Who are you remembering? Don’t just say George Floyd’s name. If you want to effect real change, make sure you say their names as well.