On Sunday, Sept. 13, Formula One race car driver Lewis Hamilton got into hot water with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) because of a shirt that the FIA deemed political.
This shirt said, “Arrest the Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor,” in reference to Taylor’s death in March of this year at the hands of members of the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD).
According to Sky Sports, the FIA will not launch a formal investigation into his actions, but the very idea that it would question his shirt brings into question the way the media is addressing these human rights issues.
I am not very well-versed in the rules of Formula One racing, but the fact that it would try to silence the voice of a man who is simply interested in preserving human rights is shameful. One person’s voice is important because, as we have seen, when everyone comes together to speak, we can begin to make a change.
In June, social media was flooded with posts about these issues, including “Blackout Tuesday” on June 2, during which people silenced their feeds by simply posting a black square. Blackout Tuesday may not have been the most effective way of raising awareness, but it is emblematic of the efforts of that time. People used their voices to drown out hatred and gave a voice to the marginalized.
Now, we barely see any posts about these issues. None of the officers that killed Breonna Taylor have been arrested and people on social media have mostly become complacent about pushing these issues to the forefront.
I am complicit in this, I understand, but we need to do better for Taylor’s memory and the well-being of her family.
We need to use our own voices, however small, just as Lewis Hamilton did. We need to keep pressure on law enforcement and push for reform. We need to keep pressure on each other to speak out.
