Eric Garner

Black History Month 

Eric Garner


SIX years after the death of Eric Garner in 2014, the World is facing another tragic death. George Floyd was killed on 25th May by police officers after he was pinned onto the floor by three policemen.


His tragic death shocked viewers all across the country but many did not realise that this same death has been seen before. Eric Garner, in 2014, died after a New York City Police Department officer put him in a prohibited chokehold during his arrest. Like George Floyd, video footage of Eric Garner’s death created widespread national attention and raised questions on the use of force by law enforcement. His final words were also “I can’t Breathe” that was repeated 11 times whilst he was lying face down on the sidewalk. He lost consciousness and remained lying on the sidewalk for seven minutes while the officers waited for an ambulance to arrive.


Eric Garner’s death caused an increase in media and popular culture surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement. Firstly, the single released in 2017 ‘Loyal Like Sid & Nancy’ by Foster the People included the lyric “I Can’t Breathe’. This was a commentary about both Garner’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement. 



Alongside this, a 2018 crime-drama film was released entitled ‘Monsters and Men’. The plotline of this film was describing the death of a cigarette-selling black man at the hands of the police. Being inspired by the death of Eric Garner, the film grabbed wide attention upon release. 


Two years after Garner’s death, his family dropped a new song which once again moved the audience. The song titled “I Can’t Breathe” is again inspired by the last words that Garner uttered before being killed. It subsequently became a cry for the Black Lives Matter movement that protested police brutality. 


The lyrics of the chorus include:

 “I can hear my brother crying ‘I Can’t Breathe’,

Now I’m in this trouble and I can’t leave,

We all know the solution but they blame you and me,

We’re aint gonna stop, until all us free”



Garner’s family explained that “the song is dedicated to the struggle everyone is going through”. This is the second song that Eric Garner’s family released following his death. In 2015, Garner’s daughter and his brother released the song ‘This Ends Today’. The song was released following the jury’s decision not to convict the police officers. 



Eric Garner’s family was just the start of the following artists and songs surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement that would rise to fame in the following years. This all once again was repeated more recently following the death of George Floyd.




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