As we watch the trial of the killer cop that murdered George Floyd, we all hope to find a sense of justice and resolution.
However, we at Great Plains Action Society and many of you know that justice cannot come from these proceedings. This killer cop may be convicted, may even possibly spend time in a cage--but this is not justice.
One person being punished by the state for performing the duties we expect of the state, using the position and power over us that for 500 years has caused us to continually mourn the loss of our Black and Brown relatives, is not justice nor a resolution. The law enforcement and the justice systems that create, protect, and enforce the monopoly of violence necessary to maintain a state built by Black bodies on stolen Native land--is not capable of delivering justice. It is not possible to receive justice within a system built on genocide.
Criminal justice reform, defunding the police, and citizen oversight committees are among many important steps that can lessen the possibility of our Black and Brown relatives being murdered by the state. As important as these programs can be to make short term change, they will exist within a colonial-capitalist framework, a state that requires violence on its subjects to exist.
Our elders and ancestors know the horror of this nation being formed by the actualization of white supremacy and capitalist extraction. In the end, there is no justice in a state built on colonial-capitalism.
But, they deserve justice, and maybe then we can bring them and future generations peace.
George Floyd, may you find much peace. We love you and we will avenge you. Rest in Power.
Derek Chauvin, may we use what we currently have to remove you from the ability to inflict more violence. May you find no peace. Ever.
With Love and Rage for all those that have lost their lives at the hands of law enforcement and other foot soldiers of capitalism,
-Great Plains Action Society
Photo by Paul Sableman
Used under the CC BY 2.0 License