#SayTheirNamesMemorial goes up on Harbor Ave to honor black lives lost to brutality
Tue, 06/30/2020
It's easy to miss the fact that the names of black lives lost in recent times are not the only ones. Black lives have been taken by brutality, injustice and racism for literally centuries. Most of their names have been forgotten. But there are those among us now working to make us remember, and to finally and forever change for the better.
On June 19th (Juneteenth) Joy Proctor (Joy Proctor Design) in Portland Oregon decided to take action. She wrote the following on Facebook:
"In honor of Juneteenth I planned a memorial for 175 lives taken by police brutality, injustice and racism. A group of friends and kind passers by helped put up photos and bouquets for each each of the beautiful people who lost their lives. The goal was to spears awareness, and honor the lives of too many, taken too soon. Flowers were donated by @tangledrootspdx and @mayeshportland and made the memorial truly special. Prints were donated by @precisionimages. Shorty after I shared about the #saytheirnamesmemorial a number of friends contacted me, wanting to recreate the memorial in their own cities. Yesterday @bowsandarrowsflowers @emilyclarkeevents @saunterweddings created their own memorial in Dallas, Texas and almost as soon as it was put up, neighbors complained and had it taken down. This hurt but showed me how important the #blacklivesmatter movement is, and how much farther we have to go. If you would like to create a “Say Their Names” memorial in your city, email me to download the PDF of photos. A huge thank you to @jessicamangia_photography for the beautiful photos of our Portland memorial, to @hart_floral for leading the team of volunteers through the bouquet making process and for standing by my dream for this memorial. Thank you to my sister @simangele and her dear friends who helped put this up, and to @yee_ctb for helping provide us work space to prep. #blacklivesmatter #blm #saytheirnames @ Revolution Hall
Now the cause has been taken up in West Seattle. This one was set up by Emily Muddiston of Rose Andrew Events, Caleb of Caleb Norman James Design, Ashley with Floraison Design Co., Camille of Robinson Creative House and Carina Sckrobecki Wedding Photography.
187 names and photos were put up with flowers to make them a "living memorial" they hope some will help expand.
"The sad part is we could have added so many more," said Emily.
All the photos on display as of June 30, 2020. Group photos by Kimberly Robinson
Comments
Police lives taken by black…
Police lives taken by black criminals is 8 times greater than the other way around. This fence idea is idiotic and ignores many greater issues regarding the black community.
Gregg you don't get to…
Gregg you don't get to decide what issues people care about. Your also wrong. If you actually did some research you would find that there are many organizations dedicated to ending violence in areas with higher homicide rates. You would see that they hold marches and rallies all the time. This is not a race issue. The most prevalent factor most all crime in poverty. More time researching would also show you that homicide rates have been declining in the country for decades. Some very basic research would show you that BLM has organized and protested against police killing no matter the cops race. Again you are wrong. You are wrong on multiple levels.
Dr. Viller Please show me…
Dr. Viller Please show me the sources for your claim. Also please show me how many of those people that kill a police officer get acquitted or don't even get charged in the first place.
I'm not sure where you…
I'm not sure where you disagree with me.
The Washington Post maintains a database of all police involved shootings across the country. In 2019, there were 14 (revised upwards from 9 for dubious reasons) shootings of unarmed black men by police officers. Not to be flip, but that is an average weekend for any combination of major U.S. cities, presumable most of the victims black men.
But if you look at the massive protests around the country vilifying the police, one would think that police brutality is the primary culprit. It clearly is not. I dare you, or anyone, to find a speaker at a Black Lives Matter rally who challenges their audiences to remember these forgotten victims.
You mention that the crime rate has been decline over the past decades, which it has, and it is reasonable to assume improving economics has a lot to do with it, e.g. an improving job market. If this the main driver of declining crime rates, we need more of it.
No one has argued that police should not be held accountable - certainly not me - but lets not fool ourselves that police brutality is anywhere close to accounting for the majority of black violent deaths.
These are black people lost…
These are black people lost to police brutality. Why not put up pics of people lost to black on black crime? Not enough fence huh. Obviously black lives don't matter....
If your not sure where I…
If your not sure where I disagree with you let me make it clear. I disagree with every single thing you have said.
When a civilian kills someone they go to jail. When a police officer kills someone they go home. That's the issue.
Your argument about a speaker at a BLM rally not talking about victims of other killings is silly. By your argument there should be no lung cancer rally, benefits, stop smoking commercials because lung cancer is not the biggest killer.
Again these are not "forgotten victims" as you label them. There are plenty of organizations that do work and advocate for them. Just because you can't be bother to research them doesn't mean they don't exist.
Your assumption that economy is the reason for the falling crime rate is false as the racial wealth gap has only been increasing at the same time crime has been falling.
You have provided evidence that more people are killed by civilians that police. That was never under dispute. That don't mean that anyone has to agree and go alone with your triage theory. Like I said you don't get to decide what people care about. You don't get to decide that people that care about lung cancer have to focus on breast cancer instead. If you care about other forms of violence so much you are free to go and work on those issues. No one is stopping you. No one is forcing you to go to a BLM march either.
To your final point again you are wrong. The issue is police killing and brutality. period. It's not about white cop vs black cop. Like you keep trying to make it. No one at a BLM rally is saying we have to stop white cops killing people but it's okay if black cops do. It's all police. Your the only one making this about the race of the police.
PS you never answered my question about your triage theory and Chicago. I'll ask you again. If you believe that the worst cases need the attention first then why is the only city you mentioned Chicago when it's not even in the to 10 of homicides per capita?
So since your argument was…
So since your argument was proven completely false now your attempting to move the goal post.
Even at that you are once again wrong. BLM has in fact spoken up for white victims of police brutality. Once again you shown that your making false arguments with even bothering to do basic research. If your concerned these white victims of police brutality/killing aren't getting enough exposure you are free to go advocate for them. That's your choice but as I said time and time again you don't get to chose what other people advocate for.
I see you significantly softened your stance on the economy's effect on the crime rate from "reasonable to assume" to "it may play a factor". Thanks for proving my point. No direct link has been show.
Still no answer on your talking about Chicago? Have you abandoned your triage theory?
So your argument is no one is allowed to care about police killing until there is no other murders at all and that the police who are sworn to protect should be held to a lower standard than criminals? Also if you think the worst cases deserve the attention first why are you talking about Chicago when it isn't even in the top 10 in murder per capita?