How Young People Can Change the Narrative Around ‘Brown Lives Matter’ in the Trump Era

Story by Cassandra Avitia

always hear stories on the news and social media about how police disproportionately target Black people, in particular Black men. It saddens me that institutions meant to protect and serve are actually killing us.

I say “us” because as a Brown Latina, I know that my community is often persecuted by law enforcement as well, yet the killings of Latinx are less likely to capture national media attention.

Although I stand proudly by Black Lives Matter (BLM), a couple of months after the anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium and the election of Donald Trump, I want to remind my young Brown brothers and sisters everywhere that now, more than ever before, we need to send the message that our lives MATTER TOO.

Forty-six years ago on August 29, 1970, around 25,000 thousand people rallied in East Los Angeles during the Chicano Moratorium march. It was the peak of the Chicano Movement and young people were standing up against the Vietnam War, but most importantly, the injustices Chicanos faced in their own communities.

Activists and students were angered that Chicanos were disproportionately being drafted into the Vietnam War. At home, they were subjected to terrible abuse by the police and yet they were being asked to die for a country that shunned them. In similar fashion to present day BLM protests, the police showed up and incited a riot where many were injured and three people were killed, including well-known journalist Ruben Salazar.

Salazar, who was 42 and a veteran reporter with the Los Angeles Times, was very outspoken about police brutality and the war. When he was killed by a deputy sheri ’s tear gas projectile, the community was outraged. This was the beginning of the civil rights movement for Chicanos.

Last summer when Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were murdered, so were Pedro Villanueva and Anthony Nunez, but my community remained silent. I could not understand why.

Then in November, Donald Trump became President of the United States, even after making racist and derogatory statements against various communities including calling Mexican people rapists, criminals, and drug dealers.

In the Los Angeles Times, Luis Carillo, an attorney who represents Latinos in cases of police brutality, stated that many Latinos stick to the maxim of “minding your own business.” This has led to a minimizing of the oppression this community has experienced in the public eye, and an inwardness within the community that has made it hesitant to stand up for itself and protest acts of violence committed against our own people.

Contrast this with the thousands of African-Americans who are responding to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. Where there is so much solidarity in one community, the other chooses to remain silent when we are killed.

This apathy must change.

We need to defend our people from those who abuse their power. We must stand up to Donald Trump and his unjust policies that are attacking our communities.

As young people, we must teach our families and elders to be fearless and take a stand.

It is up to us to keep the memories of the Chicano Moratorium alive. Just like thousands of people protested the impact of the Vietnam War on our community, we need to protest for our right to live,

We are not “criminals.” We are not “rapists” or “drug dealers.” We are Americans, this is our country. We deserve to be treated equally and with respect and not scapegoated.

Brown bodies matter to me, and in the era of Trump, they should matter to you too.