By Haika Mrema | Contributor

I want to make this clear; the lives of Black people do matter. This is irrefutable.

But do Black lives actually matter to Black Lives Matter?

They stand in the name of police brutality and racism as they have led you to believe that those are the most prevalent threats facing Black Amercians today. While both of those injustices are inexcusable, here are the facts. According to a Mapping for Police Violence ​database​, there were 30 records of unarmed Black men killed by police in 2019. In the year prior, there were around 6,300 murders committed by Black people with a majority of their victims being other Black people​. See the disparity here? Who is the real threat to Black people?

So why would BLM push such an agenda? Maybe because if they worked towards issues that are vastly affecting the Black community, they would no longer have a platform. People would stop donating as problems were solved, but they need your donation to survive. We are led to believe that they are proactive in combating the “issues” harming us, when in reality the issues that are most impactful are being ignored and getting worse. They put on a great show to keep you from looking behind the curtain.

Have you ever stopped to wonder where your donation to BLM is actually going? Is there any clear message from them? With celebrities, organizations, and millions of people giving millions of dollars each term, we are bound to see a difference by now. Right? Try this; click on the blue “donate” square on the ​BLM website​, and then watch as the website name on your address bar changes. Search up the website’s name, and you will find out why they are the loudest during election time. If BLM isn’t a “political issue,” why is their money going to an organization that funds democratic campaigns and left-leaning nonprofits​?

I look to people like Oprah, LeBron James, Barack Obama and many more Black figures, and question how much oppression we are living under. These are people who came from nothing, rose to the top and achieved everything. If it was possible for them, why is it suddenly near-impossible for us? ​We also dominate in the music and sports industries, so while the major hip-hop artists and basketball players are telling you how oppressed they are, they sit on their millions of dollars from success while we continue to listen to them say why it’s impossible for us to do what they just did. ​If you think you are oppressed, you will start to live that way, ultimately becoming a hindrance to yourself. Believing you are not oppressed and can persevere to success is pure freedom because now the power is in your hands. Take it from those who have made it — they didn’t sit and wait for reparations, they worked hard, persevered and took control of their own destiny.

There are real issues harming the Black community today. The most prevalent being fatherless homes as we have more than any other race. ​In a speech Barack Obama did on fatherhood ​he said, ​“We know that more than half of all Black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled — doubled — since we were children. That children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison.”​ ​​It is also hard to empower our race when we kill off the most children through abortions out of any racial/ethnic group every year.​ The most dangerous place for an African American to be is in the womb.​ In New York alone, there are thousands more babies dying from abortion than being born. We loot and riot in the name of justice when we are simply destroying our already impoverished communities, Black businesses and workplaces that Black people depend on to survive. We are an emotional and reactive group, and BLM knows it. They work with celebrities to encourage the violence while they sit back and watch the show.

To my colleagues, I leave you with this: You are not oppressed if you don’t want to be, and don’t let people influence you into thinking you are. There is no other place where a Black person has more freedom to thrive than in the United States of America, and once you believe that, the sky is your limit. Don’t let organizations like BLM deceive you into living in fear of racism and white suppression, as they depend on your fear and donations to keep them afloat. Make good choices, take responsibility, work hard and value your family and faith.

I’m a young woman with huge aspirations, and I am blessed to live in a country where I know I can make those dreams happen… in Jesus’ name.