I had no words, he had no words; we just had sighs and long periods of silence when we learned of a 16 year-old black boy in Philadelphia sexually assaulted during a stop-and-frisk.
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There were no words spoken during a nearly half-hour long conversation on Tuesday night. Just an exchange of “fuck, man,” and “god damn, seriously, dude?” and “man, I don’t know” and “fuck this shit, yo.”
This conversation didn’t include fancy words or talks of innovation like usual, instead, the conversation was dominated with heavy sighs and long periods of silence. My little brother, Rashaun Williams and I, didn’t share how we felt about a young 16 year-old black boy in our city last week having his testicles crushed during a stop-and-frisk; our simultaneous sighs, however, signaled we were on the same page and that our tolerance for the bullshit had reached its peak.
The next day, Wednesday morning, I published an article on the developing story; tweeted it out and he replied saying: “I’m at Broad & Girard right now on my way to work; angry and in thought; sickened.” At that moment I realized—as my mentee, brother, business partner and friend stood in the exact spot where a straight-A student was sexually abused by a white female officer as the all-white cast of “KillahNiggah” stood by and laughed—I couldn’t protect him from the real-world hatred for our skin; I could only prepare him for it. I couldn’t tell him everything would be fine, I just had to pray for his safety; and all those who look like him.
The youngest BMe Leader in Philadelphia, Williams was scheduled to appear live on The Dr. Vibe Show later that evening to promote Techbook Online’s black male mentor storytelling campaign. I knew this opportunity would give him a chance to fire off his feeling to a global audience and relieve some of the pain he was feeling. My intuition was confirmed when I sent out a tweet hyping his appearance and he responded: “I’m going in tonight; so much that must be discussed.” I was excited for him. Not because it was his first, high-profile, in-depth international interview, but because as black boy in pain he was going to have at his disposal, a positive outlet to express his emotions—and man, did he ever.
Once he started to talk about the controversial story, his voice grew louder and more aggressive; I could imagine him sitting up straight in his chair and yelling at the phone as if he were talking directly to one of those brand names, blue ribbon, Negroes, that occupy a top office in the nation’s fifth largest city.
And although we still really haven’t talked about how we feel, I know he’s hurting as much as I am about this story, and the unfair, unjust, unconstitutional treatment of black people in this country. I know he realizes that now, much like I do, that even with his BMe Leadership Award, media appearances and contracts with social entrepreneurial enterprises, that to police officers like the sadistic bitch who thought it would be cute to use her bare hands to disconnect the vein that enables the sperm to travel to the penis, we are just suspicious niggers who are guilty until proven innocent.
My passionate work to improve media coverage and public perception of African-American men and boys has never been more relevant to me – and others – than now. Darring Manning was walking to basketball practice with his face covered by a scarf during one of the coldest days in recent history in Philadelphia. Police viewed that as suspicious, and without questioning him to even get a clue to where he was going, violated his rights and now it’s possible he’ll never be able to conceive a child.
This type of shit doesn’t have to happen. We have it within our power as a society to topple barriers to equal opportunity for everyone, including African-American men and boys, who often face steep obstacles and inaccurate depictions in the media, which can not only affect self-perceptions and lead to diminished self-esteem, but misinform police and the public, which can, as usually does, leads to violent and sometimes deadly interactions based off perceptions.
I will continue the vital work that I do, not for fortune or fame; but so that I can avoid as many speechless conversations between mentor and mentee as possible.
Happy National Mentoring Month! Celebrate by becoming a mentor today!
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Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
Source: TBO Inc®
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