A Tribute to Black Lives Lost in Recent Years

And, this is by no means all of them. This tribute only represents the deaths you may know about thanks to cell phone videos, social media, and more news coverage. But, make no mistake, this has been going on for many, many years.

During the time I was growing up in Philadelphia, it happened all the time under the leadership of then Police Chief (1968-1971) and later Mayor (1972-1980), Frank L. Rizzo. Even though it was long overdue, that is why his statue was finally removed from Center City. For those of you who are just now coming to the realization that something is definitely wrong with the way black people are and have been treated by the police, we have been trying to get the city to remove that statue since the last century.

Now, let me take a wild guess. Other than George Floyd (center), you probably don't know the name of anyone in this tribute, despite the massive news coverage each of them received at the time of their individual deaths. Does it surprise you to know that we know all of them by name? Why not make a commitment to start there going forward and take the time to learn the names of black people who are murdered by the police? Do it because their lives mattered!