Chicago Activist Opens Up About Police Violence And Racist Exposure During The Black Lives Matter Protest
(Editor’s note: I know the source personally, and she agreed to participate in the interview.)
Chicago activist Jasmine Velasquez recently joined the Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Chicago on May 30, 2020 because she “believes in demanding change,” and she also mentioned that “being a part of it was very powerful.”
Velasquez opens up about the police violence and explicit racism she witnessed and experienced during the protest. As someone who was born and raised in Chicago, she yearns to see change in her wounded city. She explains how “police were pushing peaceful protestors,” and they “kept shooting rubber bullets at calm crowds.” Although there were protestors who avoided violence, police greeted them with it anyways. But the question that protestors have is: why? Velasquez also notices how the Black Lives Matter movement has exposed racists every day because of what she’s seen outside and from what she’s seen on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. She refers to them as “closet racists” because they have begun to show their true colors only after the movement. The terrifying part is learning that racists are everywhere. It could be a neighbor or a family friend who no longer bites his or her tongue anymore. The protest has become an excuse for racists to come out of the closet.
Velasquez is very passionate about the Black Lives Matter movement, and as a minority, it hurts her to see what struggles people of color have had to encounter throughout the years. Like other protestors, she wants to see change in the city that she calls home. We will be in contact with her until the next influential event.