“NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE” was heard during a BLM protest in Atlanta during the summer of 2016. News helicopters swarmed the skies broadcasting the event live. The protest ad blocked off part of the highway. Police officers swarmed in with tear gas but still the protestors screamed, “NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE”. The protest was in honor of the recent killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. Castile and Sterling were a casualty of police brutality. The statement repeated throughout this whole event, “NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE”, is extremely important. This conflict will never end if something isn’t done and the protestors and everyone else involved aren’t backing down. Enough is enough.

Black Lives Matters is an organization that originated a couple years ago when the slaughter of black people was being videotaped and posted on the internet. They typically just gather in protest and major cities. After the two most recent killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, a protest was organized and Atlanta just so happened to be one of the locations. The protest started around twelve in the afternoon and from the beginning the atmosphere was charged with so many emotions.  Police officers were scared of the protest shifting from peaceful to violent. Due to their limited amount of handcuffs they had zip ties. At one point the protest cut off the highway at a major exit, which lead to news stations broadcasting the event live from helicopters above the scene. Due to the highway being cut off and the protestors’ refusal to move, police officers brought out tear gas. But some of the protestors didn’t even react and continued to chant. The protestors were majority African American, with a mix of other different races in between. The police officers also played a huge role in what was happening from the tear gas to the makeshift handcuffs made out of zip ties.

The protest had blocked a major highway, the exit that was blocked was an exit used primarily to get into the city which posed a huge conflict for commuters. When asked to move some of the protestors refused and the police brought out tear gas to scare them. My wars ringed from the sheer volume of the chants of the protestors. “NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!” over and over again they screeched. I could smell the tear gas as the officers pulled it out on innocent bystanders. I watched as people stated to flee not wanting to call the officers bluff. I grasped my poster tightly that boldly stated the names of the fallen black men and women. I could almost taste the desperation coming from the protestors.

While still protesting off the exit, protestors were asked by police officers to back off and get of the way. Some refused and the police then went on to pull out tear gas to scare the protestors but it did the exact opposite. The atmosphere was tense and almost cathartic as the crowd chanted and rhymed almost like slam poetry. The protestors were artists and their chants were their masterpiece.  The atmosphere was tense and almost cathartic as the crowd chanted and rhymed almost like slam poetry. The protestors were artists and their chants were their masterpiece. From this whole experience I have learned that peaceful protest is not always seen as peaceful by the public. Also that protesting doesn’t always bring about change or even help the movement at all. All that was really broadcasted of the protest was that the highway was blocked off and how rowdy the protestors were not even about why they were protesting.

The protest had blocked a major highway, the exit that was blocked was an exit used primarily to get into the city which posed a huge conflict for commuters. When asked to move some of the protestors refused and the police brought out tear gas to scare them. By refusing the officers and basically being insubordinate, the protestors risked getting arrested. That would be on their percent record and have a slight chance of going to court for it as well. I’m still as terrified as I was in the situation as I am now months after the event. I’m also angry at the fact that nothing has changed and the fact that people are still being murdered out in the streets and the protests are just getting even more violent. And that’s why even the peaceful protests like the event that had transpired don’t make a difference. Without change, there will not be any peace. This event really highlighted this point, I will be forever woke with this revelation. I will always hear “NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE”, ringing in the back of my mind like a soundtrack to my life.