I have been participating in multiple protests and marches for over a year now, and it was the answer to my problems all along. I always felt as if I wasn’t doing enough, now I am in crows of people who feel the same. Thanks to my newfound activism, I can finally honor Andrew without feeling as if I could let him down. I recently partook in a protest against the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We demanded more HIV treatments and more clinical trial availability to people of color. The protest went on smoothly until officers tried to break us apart. Then the crowd lost control. People started blocking police vehicles, and even tried to enter the NIH building. It was terrifying. Over 60 people were arrested amongst us. Most of them were arrested for blocking off police vehicles, the others were for entering into the NIH building.
What I experienced that day was deeply troubling. I was at that protest from the beginning and I can promise you that the only thing that crowd wanted was peace. We wanted our voices to be heard and the government wanted otherwise. Those officers came in looking for a reason to send us home. If I have learned anything from my experiences with these protests is that shutting one protest only encourages another. That experience was terrifying to say the least. There was one point in time where I was worried about getting trampled to death. It was definitely the most danger I have ever found myself in. Even though my descriptions have sounded negative, I still feel powerful. What happened on May 21st has been shared across multiple news platforms, and is a topic of discussion around the country. They tried to silence us and we only became louder.
