Opinion: Lessons From Alton Sterling: When Will the ‘Walking Dead’ Live Free? – NBCNews.com

Members of the community stand in front ot the Triple S Food Mart on May 2, 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The U.S. Justice Department has declined to prosecute the Baton Rouge police officer who shot Sterling at close range while being held down last July. Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Michael Slager, the former South Carolina police officer caught on tape shooting and killing Walter Scott in 2015 as Scott attempted to escape his eventual fate,

The officer accused of shooting and killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards with the use of a rifle as the car, packed with young teens, approached him,

Weeks ago two police officers in Gwinnett County, a suburb of Atlanta, were fired for using excessive force against Demetrius Hollins during a traffic stop. However, charges have yet to be filed.

And the officer who shot and killed Philando Castille in St. Paul, two days after Sterling was killed in Baton Rouge, was also charged with manslaughter last November.

But, I am not so quick to celebrate. I'm sorry, but I am not.

Am I happy that charges have been filed or that these officers have been punished somewhat for their actions? I would be happier if these Black souls were still living, breathing, impacting society, making memories, creating legacies - and their families weren't having to mourn, march or demand answers.

If they were still here, then that, for me, would be justice.

Once again, it seems, we have been left with the short end of the stick. Once again, it seems, we have been forced with having to settle for something less than what should be afforded us - our inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without fearing for our lives.

To quote Bettina Love, associate professor of Educational Theory & Practice at the University of Georgia (UGA), "We are not really living."

"To live with the fact that you and your love ones can be murdered at any time by the violence of whiteness for being black is a life of trauma, anxiety, grief, and feelings of hopelessness. Black folks are the real

Yes, charges have been filed in some of these cases and there will probably be a trial, unless it's Baltimore (and we are all too familiar with the

But that is still no guarantee -

It makes me think of what Adele said after the Grammy Awards when she beat out Beyonce's Lemonade for Album of the Year, "What the f*** does she have to do to win Album of the Year."

What do we have to do for the extermination of our leaders, our loved ones, our brothers AND sisters, our young and our seasoned to be given true justice; the kind of justice that allows them to live freely rather than the walking dead, as Dr. Love describes?

The Lord's Prayer suggest that we "forgive those who trespass against us." If only it were that simple.

Lord, deliver us!

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Opinion: Lessons From Alton Sterling: When Will the 'Walking Dead' Live Free? - NBCNews.com

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero