Trapped inside houses, away from friends, social events, and public places in general, the world as a collective got pretty creative. Whether it was baking many new desserts, watching yoga videos, or learning how to play a new instrument, people got imaginative in ways they have never before. With all the time on everyone’s hands, there was little else to do.

Almost three months into quarantine, the new interests went on pause. The demoralizing death of George Floyd on May 25 changed how people spent their time. Instead of worrying about the loss of toilet paper, many people worried about not only their income, but their lives. The new focus was educating oneself about police brutality, racism, and corrupt society. Many took part in protests around the world screaming justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, and so many more black lives. The dehumanizing videos all over social media showed people that they need to take action and make a change. Finding a new recipe to bake was not a worry anymore.

Even within the Bellarmine community, students have made a change. Many attended protests and informed one another about websites and ways to take action through social media.

Senior Victoria Krishchuk said “I educated myself and reviewed important movements on civil rights so I could better understand a POC point of view rather than my own privileged voice. I quickly inherited empathy and fueled anger for the injustice they still face today. I follow every past and current life that is taken whether it’s from police brutality or any inconvenience in public/private.”

These changes can be created by donating even just ten dollars to petitions or organizations caring about the justice of black lives and bettering society. Society has seen this change due to hundreds of thousands of people protesting in the streets, painting murals on the outside of closed stores, and donating to black owned businesses. The hopeful generation of Gen Z has especially taken this leap to make change. The way they have greatly responded out of anger shows how passionate they are and will become in future years. Although this human right issue has been prevalent for thousands of years, the Black Lives Matter movement started on July 13, 2013, and has built since then, especially this year. The movement advocates for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against police brutality and violence against black people. Some protestors have made these protests violent with lootings of stores and fire, but this radical action incites response.

After these four months, society as a whole has realized our potential to create change and attempt to dismantle the institutionalized racism within. Although the threat of COVID-19 continues to loom and the nearing of the flu season will only highlight the safety precautions we must take, we have understood that the necessary step of the country to find some semblance of peace and unity through equality.