Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change no change matters.—Reverend angel Kyodo Williams
The murders of unarmed black men by police in the United States and Pittsburgh are nothing new. White Pittsburghers became knowledgeable about police brutality and police killings in 1995 as the result of the not guilty verdict and homicide of Jonny Gammage by five suburban police officers. His murder drew media attention because this 31-year-old black businessman was the cousin of a Pittsburgh Steeler. Like Eric Garner in New York, in 2014, Gammage’s death was the result of asphyxiation. Black Pittsburghers had long been aware of the fact that black males in Pittsburgh were in danger of being killed by police.