THE PAVEMENT CAN SPEAK — ARE YOU LISTENING?

Nonetheless, one major difference between racism and cancer is that those with cancer tend to accept they’re ill and try to stop the illness spreading. When it comes to racism, however, many are still in denial that there’s anything wrong. — Ibram X. Kendi.

I wrote yesterday about attending a protest in Newport Beach for George Floyd. You can read that here. However, later in the day, I attended another one.

The first one in Newport Beach was great, but the second one was much more powerful. You’re probably thinking, “why was it more powerful?”

I pulled up to the second one with a friend. The first thing we noticed was everyone was walking on the sidewalk. The second thing we noticed was everyone was stopping when the traffic lights would turn red. The third thing was how quiet everyone was.

It all seemed weird to me. It felt more like Orange County entertainment rather than feeling the pain alongside George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others.

However, we continued to march and build momentum. We used our voice to declare his name — “George Floyd,” and her name — “Breonna Taylor.” We used our voice to declare — “Black Lives Matter.” We used our voice to declare “No justice — No peace.”

We continued to walk, more people showed up. It finally got to the point where we spilled onto the streets, street lights didn’t matter and the collective voices grew louder.

Now, it felt like we were getting somewhere. The “somewhere” I’m referring to is “the disruption.”

The disruption in traffic for people to remember what is happening during this time. The disruption in people’s social media feeds to remember the names of the deceased. The disruption on TV to see hundreds of people marching in the streets of Newport Beach. The disruption is part of the solution to bring justice.

We marched, we shouted and then we stopped.

We knelt at a busy intersection in honor of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, then, we laid down — face down — asphalt to face — just as Mr. George Floyd.

We laid there for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The time it took for George to be killed on the street by Minneapolis police.

We filled the intersection — laying down. All cars stopped. We lay in silence. The only thing you could hear was the helicopter above watching us all.

Laying your face on asphalt for one minute is horrible — let alone for nearly nine minutes. I can’t imagine what George Floyd endured for those nearly nine minutes with a cops knee on his neck.

What was going through his mind? Did he imagine his world would end that day just because he was black? What was the pavement speaking to him?

The moment taught me alot about putting myself in another's shoes.

Put your face on the pavement — you’ll see what I mean. The pavement can speak in more ways than you realize. #blacklivesmatter #justiceforGeorge