Brianna Beamer
Professor Fonash
English 137H RCL section 013
10 September 2021
exodium (commencement)
Hello, my name is Brianna Beamer. Today I will be talking about something I am very passionate about, the systemic racism in America and how not treating movements like Black Lives Matter as a trend can help resolve these problems.
narration (story/backstory)
Imagine it’s May 25, 2020. To most of us, it is just another day in boring quarantine; we did not know that our lives would be changed forever on that very night. “I Can’t Breathe” 
These three words were said when Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, kneeled on George Floyd’s, an African-American, neck for almost TEN minutes.
Floyd died even after begging for his life and not resisting the punishment he was unrightfully given.
Floyd was suspected of buying a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit 20 dollar bill. Why were the officers arresting him? Floyd was a bigger guy; he worked security and also had a record.
Today I will be using this information to show how there is still systemic racism in America and how not treating BLM as a cute trend or fad will help change America for the better.
partitio (partition or division of points)
- BLM protests- people began to protest the white cops not getting the same punishment an African American would be punished FOR KILLING A MAN. Although they are a good thing, the internet is a powerful place; people post videos and say that the protests were violent. This created more of a division in the country.
- benefits and downfalls
- the words “I Can’t Breathe.”
- Karios
- protests erupted from unacceptable behavior from white police. This was a Karios moment because the protests came right after systemic racism was recorded for the world to see.
confirmatio (confirmations or arguments)
- Some can argue that Floyd had a previous record, and he was a bigger guy, so the cops acted out of “self-defense.”
- Other white people were mad because people weren’t saying THEIR lives mattered
- Instagram example of house burning (maybe put into a slide?) found on “Next Time Someone Tells You ‘All Lives Matter,” Show Them This Cartoon.” by German Lopez.
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- Instagram example of house burning (maybe put into a slide?) found on “Next Time Someone Tells You ‘All Lives Matter,” Show Them This Cartoon.” by German Lopez.
refutatio (refutation)
- but let’s be real, if this were a white guy, it would have been handled completely differently; his neck would defiantly not have been kneeled on for 10 minutes. In fact, the cops probably would have never been involved.
- All lives DO matter, but in this instance, Black Lives are in danger from the racism seen in America.
peroratio (conclusion) Multiple times, I have mentioned the internet; it is a powerful place if we continue to treat BLM as a movement, not a fad or a trend. The words are not to be thrown around willy-nilly to make your social media presence “cool” or “inspirational” while everything is blown up. Continue to research the racism in America so the change will occur and we won’t have to go through the news seeing another black life destroyed.
Bibliography
“George Floyd: Four Police Officers Charged with Violating Civil Rights.” BBC News, BBC, 7 May 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57023223.
“George Floyd Memorial Foundation.” GFMF, www.georgefloydmemorialfoundation.org/.
Works Cited
Lopez, German. “Next Time Someone Tells You ‘All Lives Matter,” Show Them This Cartoon.” Vox, Vox, 4 Sept. 2015, www.vox.com/2015/9/4/9258133/white-lives-matter.
“George Floyd Is Killed by a Police Officer, Igniting Historic Protests.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 24 May 2021, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/george-floyd-killed-by-police-officer.
I love the idea of talking about George Floyd’s impact on the BLM movement and the issue of systemic racism as a whole! It’s a really important discussion to be had and I think that your focus on how the internet trend was harmful for the movement is also something that we rarely talk about.
I’m not sure if this pertains completely with what you’re planning on talking about, but it might be food for thought. I’ve seen tons of student-run NPOs and similar organizations after the death of George Floyd that claim to “fight for BLM” where previously I had seen very few. You could consider how those NPOs (especially given that they’re online and made by the youth) help/hurt the cause and maybe how it makes the movement stronger/weaker as a whole.
Love the topic and how you are using those three words as your commonplace. I think a chilling way to open the speech would be starting with “I Can’t Breathe.” or one of the other heartbreaking phrases he used before he was killed (https://theurbannews.com/spirituality/2021/the-seven-last-words-of-george-floyd/). If you want to explore kairos more, you can discuss the other senseless police brutality that took place in the years prior, and how everyone’s increased boredom during quarantine led to increased phone use and increased interest in social justice and how the timing of it all helped for this terrible event to become a turning point for others to become educated and lead to the public outcry (and how some people saw everyone reacting and wanted to seem woke, so they took part in performative activism). Last sentence is so powerful and a direct call to action that I know will leave the class feeling moved. Very exciting to see how the development of this speech, you have an amazing start/outline!!!
I really like what you’re planning on examining for your speech and the points you’re going to use. I especially like how you’re specifically exploring how George Floyd’s and the BLM protests were handled on the internet/social media and how it was just a trend for some people. In your outlined bullet points you mentioned how BLM protests were portrayed as negative to social media, maybe add a spot to go into detail about how it was a trend to some people and why this was harmful to the movement. Also, I’m not entirely sure, but I think you might’ve put your refution under confirmatio which kind of confused me when reading through the first time. I’m excited to see your elevator pitch and I think you’re going to write an amazing speech!