Everyone has defining moments in their life that change them forever. For most of us, those moments are fairly predictable, such as the birth of a child or the death of a parent. For the author, though, the moments that changed her life were more extreme.
One major turning point in the author's life was when, at the age of 23, she was forced to fight for her brother Monte's freedom. Throughout his life, Monte had battled mental illness, both inside and outside of prison. After serving around five years in jail, Monte was released, and his family struggled to look after him. Tragically, Monte had further mental breakdowns, and during one of these episodes, he shouted angrily at a white woman. Despite the fact that Monte was mentally ill, and even through he had not physically harmed the woman, Monte was charged with terrorism. Shockingly, these charges mean that Monte was now facing life imprisonment. Why? Because of a controversial California law, which states that once a person commits three felonies, the state is free to lock him up for the rest of his life.
Faced with the prospect of seeing her brother locked up indefinitely for terrorism, the author sprang into action, She raised 10,000 dollars from friends and family to pay for a defense lawyer and succeeded in getting Monte's sentence substantially reduced. At that point in her life, she realized she had the power to challenge injustice.
Several years later, in 2013, another defining moment occurred. This one was less close to home, but it still felt immensely personal for the author. Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old Black teenager who, while walking back to his house from the local convenience store, was shot and killed by a man named George Zimmerman. Despite the fact that Martin was unarmed and minding his own business when he was killed, Zimmerman was nonetheless found innocent. Shocked and outraged, the author decided to take action. She, alongside other enraged Black activists, decided to begin campaigning against America's systemic racism, and the Black Lives Matter movement was born.
