After Sandra Bland, What’s to Prevent Another Victim?

Once again, we’ve seen the social media posts, we’ve seen the memes, we’ve heard the chants, but what’s next after Sandra Bland’s death? It seems like every week, we’re hearing shouts of a new name — the latest victim of police brutality. And we have to remember all of the other names that we aren’t hearing being shouted because there are plenty in the shadows that aren’t being covered. Yet, nothing really seems to be getting done – the numbers just keep adding up.
Sandy Bland’s funeral has passed and the newness of her case will keep her in the spotlight for a few more weeks until there’s a new victim. But what’s going to prevent a new victim? Why do we keep finding ourselves in this situation? Surely, there needs to be something more done from keeping this as our all-too-often reality.
Maybe it’s time to move beyond social media and marches and actually aspire to real change. Maybe we need to go community by community and hold town hall meetings with officers, political leaders and community activists. Maybe it’s time to demand more of our elected leaders, public servants and those who dedicate their life to justice for all.
Maybe it’s time to demand more of ourselves by showing that we’re angry, tired and we can’t put up with this level of disrespect any longer. We need to be responsible for our communities and citizens and show what needs to be done now. If not now, we’re going to continue with the status quo and that’s just not good enough.