It was Only a Message.

       In Maryland Tidani Epps Jr., an 11 year old boy, had drew a picture for class depicting his view of the world. He drew a black man hanging with two Ku Klux Klan members nearby. The title being "Black Lives Matter" showing the racism of the world. His teacher assumed he was suicidal and had him sent to therapy and told his mother he couldn't return to school until he was cleared that he was okay. He said "in this picture, I was trying to describe what was going on in the world, and what happened back then. It's what happened back then, and a piece of what happened back then is still here today in the present, like racism. His purpose of drawing the picture was because he wants and end to the recent police shootings of black men that have dominated the news. "I just want it to stop, I don't want to see this anymore. Young black people get killed for no reason. It's not fair or right." His mother was livid because the school suggested he did something wrong or had mental problems. "They think just because they're kids, they're not paying attention but they are. Their eyes are open to everything going on around them." Tidani's mother said.
      This article was educational in my opinion. It taught that when you exercise your beliefs you're "suicidal" or "mental" when you aren't, you're right. The thing about this article is that people don't understand what's truly going on in the world because they aren't paying as close attention as the race it's happening to. I believe Tidani's picture brightened the eyes and that's why they made him out to be wrong. We all need to start realizing what he was trying to tell through his picture, it's the honest truth and some people just refuse to believe.


Title of Article: Contention over 'Black Lives Matter' drawing



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