Justice Maintained After Hunger Strike

The voice of 5 people on the #hungerforjusticesf strike was finally heard and made the chief of San Francisco police to resign

The police chief of San Francisco Greg Suhr finally resigned after the shooting of a 29-years-old unarmed Black woman. Although a lot of people were waiting for this to happen after two Black men were killed by the SF police last December, that fact seemed to have no effect on his career.

On April 21, five demonstrators called “Frisco five” organized a 17-days hunger strike the main aim of which was for Greg Suhr whether to live his post or to be fired. These people went through very hard times and gained a lot of supporters during this strike. Edwin Lindo one of the “Frisco five” participants writes in his blog on websta: “We didn’t know how long we must go without food – but what is clear now is that it doesn’t matter. We will be here until justice is served. Fear does not exist when you are willing to sacrifice your life for what your people deserve.” That was a very brave and outstanding deed but who else is ready for this? Who can get on a strike and change the situation around? Not many. Although everybody was disgusted by what Mayor Ed Lee and the chief of police Greg Suhr did, no one changed anything radically in this situation until the “Frisco five”.

This Thursday, San Francisco police shot dead a young black woman sitting in a stolen car, Daily News says. The woman was not trying to maintain resistance or threat police officer’s life, but at some point they shot her and she died later in a local hospital. It is interesting what would have happened if not for the hunger strike? Perhaps, this case as many before would have been closed and forgotten.

However, this time, Mayor Ed Lee took the strong measures and asked Suhr to resign. Moreover, Mayor announced Toney Chaplin a new chief. So, this battle was won by the “Frisco five” and their supporters. Of course, the resistance is still going on but they have achieved the result they aimed for. Another step in this direction is to change the corruption, violence and racism that San Francisco is overwhelmed with.

We must seek justice and freedom whatever it costs. We should not be afraid to express our opinion, show protest and take parts in strikes because now we have a bright example of “Frisco five” which inspired thousands of people. People like them change the future, raise up and become one of them!

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