{"id":8780,"date":"2015-02-07T21:08:47","date_gmt":"2015-02-08T02:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/?p=8780"},"modified":"2015-02-07T21:08:59","modified_gmt":"2015-02-08T02:08:59","slug":"johnstown-spotlight-black-lives-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/johnstown-spotlight-black-lives-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnstown Spotlight: Black Lives Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ron Fisher<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In light of the recent tragedies and marches engulfing the Country, I wanted to take a moment to speak on the inequality and injustice that you can find in any neighborhood.\u00a0 This article isn\u2019t my typical piece, only because it\u2019s not about someone I know; it\u2019s about someone you know.\u00a0 We are all human beings, yet time and time again we have been given clear examples of how the \u201cmajority\u201d still rules.\u00a0 As the black community is making strides to better itself, African-Americans are being forced to believe that their lives have no value.\u00a0 With the steadily increasing number of Blacks dying by the hands of police officers, tension continues to build across the Country, and the nation finds itself in what I believe to be this generation\u2019s civil rights movement. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>You know the names of Trayvon Martin, Eric Gardner and Michael Brown, but have you ever heard of Elip Cheatham?<\/strong>\u00a0 Elip Cheatham, 27, died from multiple gunshot wounds after three officers fired shots into his vehicle.\u00a0 Officers reported that shots were fired after Elip refused to stop at their command.\u00a0 The incident occurred as Elip was en route to a local hospital to tend to his cousin\u2019s gunshot wound who laid in the backseat of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

An aunt of Elip, Valerie Jenkins, said Cheatham was yelling out the window that he had to get his cousin to the hospital, when he was shot.\u00a0 \u201cThey could have shot the tires out. There is always something else they could do,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cThe police, they need to protect and serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relations between the City\u2019s police department and local residents, in particular the African-American community, became heated and the public demanded justice.\u00a0 In August of 2012 the three police officers were justified in the shooting death of Elip Cheatham.\u00a0 This decision left many scratching their heads, exasperated; looking for answers they may never get the answers to.<\/p>\n

The reason I mention Elip in this article is because this tragic incident happened here in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.\u00a0 With Johnstown\u2019s total population of just over 20,400 people, Elip\u2019s death is a true example of how these tragedies across the nation are hitting home for a lot of us.\u00a0\u00a0 The next time this violence strikes it could be you, your mother, or your child.<\/p>\n

Now is the time for the Black community to come together.\u00a0 We need to stand tall, stand proud, and remind this nation that Black lives matter.\u00a0 Olympic champion Wilma Rudolph once said, \u201cNever underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”<\/p>\n

Black lives matter and unfortunately for blacks, 150 years after the slaves were freed, we are still chained and shackled in theory.\u00a0 With it being a new year and a fresh start for most of us, let\u2019s set the tone and continue to build up our community.\u00a0 That is the only way that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr\u2019s vision will ever become anything more than just a dream.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to wake up folks and start taking a stance. We may not be forced to take a back seat anymore, but until the African-American community realizes the power and potential that we truly possess, how will the rest of the world?\u00a0 Black Lives Matter and in 2015 it\u2019s the Black community\u2019s time to remind others of that.\u00a0 Will you stand with me?<\/p>\n

—————————————<\/p>\n

Ron Fisher is from Johnstown, PA and submits articles on what’s happening in Cambria County. \u00a0<\/strong>He is a recent graduate of Full Sail University where he obtained his Master’s degree in Entertainment Business Management. \u00a0He serves on numerous boards in his community including the Johnstown NAACP where he is an executive member and host of their “Perspectives” television show. \u00a0Email: ronaldlfisher@aim.com<\/p>\n

This article was first published in Soul Pitt Quarterly Print Magazine (W15)<\/em><\/strong>
\n Copyright Soul Pitt Media.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

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By Ron Fisher In light of the recent tragedies and marches engulfing the Country, I wanted to take a moment to speak on the inequality and injustice that you can find in any neighborhood.\u00a0 This article isn\u2019t my typical piece, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"xn-wppe-expiration":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-action":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-prefix":[],"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-soul-pitt-quarterly"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 23:30:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8780"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8783,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8780\/revisions\/8783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesoulpitt.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}