Girl Scouts in the Movement

Currently, the “Black Lives Matter” movement is all over the media, but the Black Lives Matter movement has been around for roughly 6 years! The movement started as a hashtag on social media after the death of Trayvon Martin. It later became nationally known after the death of two more African American males in 2014: Michael Brown and Eric Garner. It recently resurfaced after the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Since then, two more lives were taken because of police brutality: Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Many people all over the world are outraged over Floyd's death by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Black community and many others are so appalled by the systematic oppression that African Americans have faced that they’ve decided to organize protests worldwide. Many petitions have also been created, as well as an increase in awareness of different organizations you can donate to.

I can not put into words how outraged I am about this. When I first learned about the death of Ahmaud Arbery I was completely disgusted. I thought to myself - how could any human being do that to another human being! Later, when the video was released, I couldn’t even watch it! I found this all out around mid-April and early May. It later came out that he was actually murdered in February. I could not believe that this happened 4 months ago and we were just now hearing about it in May. Later on in May George Floyd was murdered. In my opinion, I felt that was the last line. I was furious! 

Flash forward to June 1st. I felt like I couldn’t do anything because I am not able to be on the front lines fighting for the movement, or donate because I don’t have a stable income. I felt like I signed so many petitions and texted “Justice and Floyd” to so many different numbers. I saw many different people from all types of backgrounds supporting the movement! That inspired me as a Girl Scout to see what I could do. I decided I would make a video. I gathered a bunch of my other Girl Scout sisters, Anuhya K., Ally W., Francesca D., Grace J., Kenzie P., and Mary R.. Together, we created a video message to Black girls all around the nation telling them that, “We see you, we love you, we are here for you, we stand with you, Black girls matter, Black futures matter, and lastly Black lives matter. After the video, I decided I wanted to do more. Here I am writing this very article to my frustration, passion, and ways you can help the movement into words.

How can you as a Girl Scout help the movement? Well, you don’t need to be on the front lines to support the Black Lives Matter movement. You can do small things like donating supplies to protestors. You can use your social media platforms to share information. Sign as many petitions you can and remember to share the links. Donate if you can. The most important thing you can do is to support local black-owned businesses. The little things matter always! 

“You think the only people who are people are the people who look and think like you, but if you walk the footsteps of a stranger you'll learn things you never knew.” - Pocahontas

And, when a friend speaks up in a time of obvious pain and hurt and says “Black lives matter,” a response of “All lives matter” is truthful - but it’s hurtful and cruel at the moment when you ignore the sufferings of African Americans as if their lives don’t matter.