Demetria Brown knew the exact moment she decided she'd had it.
She'd just watched a video of George Floyd pinned under an officer's knee, saying he couldn't breathe as he begged for his life. She sobbed as she played it over and over.
On June 1, a week after Floyd's death, she quit her job as a detention officer for the Los Angeles County Probation Department. In the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, she sold her house, stuffed her belongings into 13 duffel bags and relocated to Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's Pacific coast.
Brown, 42, is one of many African Americans leaving the United States permanently for many reasons, including racism and fear of police brutality. Her flight landed in her new hometown on June 25, a month to the day Floyd died.
"Watching that video -- my heart broke and sank all at the same time," Brown says. "That video served as my final confirmation that I was doing the best thing for my life by departing the United States of America permanently."
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