Making history
So far, 2020 is heavily defined by destructive wildfires, international conflicts, and a global pandemic that has led to severe social and economic disruption. But within a year that will go down in history, this past week has been exceptionally memorable.
On May 25, 2020 George Floyd, a 46 year old African American man, was murdered in the hands of a police officer. The former official Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes while another three officers prevented bystanders from intervening. His death, which was recorded by an onlooker, quickly became viral and inspired thousands of people across the world to use their voices. Both peaceful and violent protests began in the U.S. but they were instantly followed by countries like England, France, Canada, Spain, and the Latin American community.
The urgency of the virus infecting the justice system is becoming more apparent as the days go by and people are refusing to stay silent. The matter has been widely recognized as a humanity issue, not a race one anymore: people from all races, genders, religions, and sexualities have united to show their support both in the streets and in social media.
Forcing conversation, the public’s overwhelming involvement has resurfaced old and recent videos of police brutality, adding more momentum to the movement. After days of demanding justice, all officers involved have been charged with murder; nevertheless, millions of posts, petitions, and people continue to challenge the system and will not stop until change is actually achieved this time.
“Every step of progress in this country, every expansion of freedom, every expression of our deepest ideals have been won through efforts that made the status quo uncomfortable.” Mr. Obama
On the other hand, looting and violence has proven inevitable during protests and the lack of leadership from part of the American government will only divide the country further.
As much as we need to prioritize this important issue, leaders are using this time to distract from other news.
Get involved and support the +500 people that submitted their videos!
We saw it in 2018 when President Trump permitted the importation of sport-hunted elephant parts and we see it now, two years later and with the bear community. Once more, the current government advances in its efforts to end the Obama-era set of laws, and this time by allowing hunters in Alaska’s national preserves to shoot bears and wolves.
According to Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, the rule change is “amazingly cruel”, and she is right. As a humanity, we have tampered with the natural environment ENOUGH, and restoring the balance should be one of our priorities. This modification, however, is merely “the latest in a string of efforts to reduce protections for America’s wildlife at the behest of oil companies and trophy hunters”, says Jesse.
What is next?
The animals need your help, and so do we. Please sign this petition to stop wildlife crimes.
At 3:22 p.m. EDT, Saturday May 30th, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, lifted off on the Falcon 9 rocket. “Today a new era in human spaceflight begins as we once again launched American astronauts on American rockets from American soil on their way to the International Space Station, our national lab orbiting Earth,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “The launch of this commercial space system designed for humans is a phenomenal demonstration of American excellence and is an important step on our path to expand human exploration to the Moon and Mars.” Known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, the mission is an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, including launch, in-orbit, docking and landing operations.
