We all have our reasons for protesting the murder of Mr. Floyd by police officers in broad daylight in front of cameras on May 25, 2020.

As a veteran, the growing militarization of our police forces has been alarming for me. Our cities and towns should not resemble war zones.

Seeing the treatment of peaceful protesters in the wake of Mr. Floyd’s slaying by police seems as though the police are doubling down on the murder.

Even after a citywide ban on tear gas and other “chemical irritants” in Seattle, the police continued to use them.

The police position themselves “above the law” through openly murdering people of color without fear of reprisal or retaliation.

We are at a crisis point as a nation.

It was only after massive street protests that anyone was arrested for the murder of George Floyd. This is an unacceptable.

If we as a society do not work to “reboot” the system, and address the militarization of our police and the systemic and structural racism that girds it, the abuses will continue.

For a better understanding of the systemic problems that face the police forces across this country, please review this article, written by a former 10-year veteran of the “boys in blue”: Confessions of a Former Cop, published June 6, 2020.

As a veteran, I have started two other memorials. One is the annual Skywalk, now in its 10th year, a 22-mile annual walk across the Sandia Mountains of Albuquerque in memory my former commander, Colonel Ted Westhusing, the highest ranking whistleblower of the Iraq War.

The second memorial is Larkin’s Loop, an 8-mile memorial hike around the Williams Lake Cirque in Taos, in memory of legendary Taos freeheeler and environmental and social justice advocate, Patrick Larkin, who was lost to us as a result of senseless gun violence.

This third memorial, the George Floyd Ocean Beach Memorial, is intended to occur not once a year, as Skywalk and Larkin’s Loop, but every Sunday at 7:30pm.

While there are yet many among us unable or unwilling to face the ongoing dehumanization of people of color, we gather at the George Floyd Ocean Beach Memorial and confront racism whenever and wherever we encounter it; whether in the open streets in broad daylight, or in the unlit corners of society: the backrooms, the boardrooms and the courtrooms.

This patch of wall, sand and water looking out to the western sky is now sacred ground in the vital resistance against the systemic and structural racism that plagues our nation and undermines our national security.

We will not just mourn. We will also dance and sing and spread the love that is in our hearts for our collective humanity.

At dusk, hundreds of California Brown Pelicans journey past the George Floyd Ocean Beach Memorial. In addition to resourcefulness, the pelican totem symbolizes social responsibility and the attributes of teamwork, generosity and friendship.

We know that there are many other names that could be added to the George Floyd Ocean Beach Memorial, perhaps as many names as there are pelicans in the sky.

Nothing prevents us from adding these names.

See you at the beach.

#occupyourhumanity #georgefloydoceanbeachmemorial #blacklivesmatter

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