Reimagining Policing for the Good of All
[Music]
[Applause]
to walk through life in america as a
black man
is to feel expendable and to feel like
prey
at eight years old my father was pulled
over and pulled out of his car
the police officer turned his attention
to me and said
get your little black ass out of the car
and on the ground
at 12 years old i was repeatedly beat
with a policeman flashlight
as he yelled i hate you you black son of
a [ __ ]
at 15 i was thrown to the ground
my pockets were ripped open because they
thought
i was selling drugs
the officer then threatened me and said
i should throw you in the back of my car
and dump you in the delaware river
you’ve heard similar stories but these
are my
stories i’ve only had three positive
experiences with
police officers out of my 40 years on
this earth
and what has been normal has long been
unacceptable
but i find myself in a time when there’s
an opportunity
we can burn down the school to prison
pipeline
and change what policing and the justice
system
has become undeserved killings of
innocent people
gratuitous arrest of black men
handing out life sentences like
candy as if throwing away a life is a
solution
to generations of system and justices
i know this system firsthand
you see my parents were both young when
i was born
and so i was raised by my grandmother
my grandmother had nine children
and there was 15 of us living in a
three-bedroom house
some were on drugs some were alcoholics
some were in and out of prison and some
even dulled their pain by torturing me
and making me understand that i was
nothing
i was abused physically and emotionally
daily i was bullied
beat up and put down
i can recall one time sitting on a
blanket reading a
history textbook and someone came
up behind me and pulled my pants down
and said i should rape you
this was from my most cruel and frequent
abuser
at 12 years old i wanted to die
and i knew exactly how i was going to do
it
and i would set my soul free
one day my uncle put an ak-47 in my
hands and asked me how
did i feel i said i feel like god
there was a power knowing that once
in my life i was in control i went from
being an abuse victim
to hurting innocent people
because of the vicious cycle of pain
that was inflicted upon me pain
fostering more pain
i was a talented track athlete
with all of the accolades but i could
not
escape my situation until i was 18.
i was taken to the train station by my
mother
and my grandmother who knew
i had a chance at a better life
with the new start i was giving
one suitcase one ziploc bag full of
money
and told good luck as luck would have it
i would end up in north carolina
in north carolina i had three children
i was married divorced
homeless sold drugs
i did everything in my power
not to go back home but more importantly
to stay in school
you see school for me was a safe space
it allowed me to see the future i
received my bachelor’s degree in 2007.
and between 2010 and 2011
i met and married the love of my life
shaqiro
and we had a son kj
and in 2012 my family and i moved to abu
dhabi
where my wife took a job in the
government schools
and i was finishing up my master’s
degree to become an english professor
we lived in abu dhabi for five years and
had many beautiful experiences
and my youngest son amir was even born
there
but out of all the lessons that i’ve
learned
while living there the one that impacted
me the most
was my interaction with the abu dhabi
police officer
you see i was 7 553 miles away from home
but still filled with the fear that
comes with
interacting with police officers and
being a black man
will i be killed if i make a sudden
movement
will i be arrested if i don’t understand
his commands attempting to soothe myself
i closed my eyes and i counted
i hear a tap on the window i rolled my
window down
and the officer said hello my friend
how are you he extended his hand for me
to shake
i did not know how to receive his words
or his actions and i asked
why did you stop me he said because you
look lost
you see the world looks different when
you feel like people see you
and respect you respect was the key
i am now back in america
working in marin city and education
marin city is the only identified
pocket of african americans in a county
of mostly white affluents
but like many others i’m hurting right
now
and especially scared for my two younger
sons who have autism
will they be killed if they don’t
understand a command
or will my fourteen-year-old who is six
two
be viewed as a threat because of his
skin color
and his size nothing
is more emotional than knowing that you
are at risk
every day of being killed by a police
officer
because of your skin color it does not
matter
if you are in your home asleep
or playing in your front yard there will
come a time
when i am questioned how i am able
to live in this neighborhood
especially in today’s climate african
americans are often asked by
well-intentioned white people
how can we fix this problem
but how can african americans fix a
problem that we did not create
and many in power still don’t
acknowledge i wish this was a time
for talking it out but it’s not
it’s a time for action we must change
the point of reference
in the narrative between law enforcement
and communities of color we must now do
the hard work
a disrupting systemic racism but we have
to admit
the issue starts at the top
in my work in marin city i see
possibilities
in my role as the community school
manager of the sausalito marin city
school district
we have created the marin city public
safety initiative
this initiative is to help strengthen
relationships
between communities of color and law
enforcement
historically black residents of marine
city have made
countless statements of being racially
profiled
now is the time to reinvest resources
and right past wrongs
that were caused by law enforcement
and racial interactions through this
initiative
law enforcement will host monthly
courageous conversations
to address both past and present
racist encounters various law
enforcement agencies such as the
southern marin fire district
have agreed to host civic engagement
workshops for our youth to discuss
how local and county government operates
and the department of probation has
agreed to host
job fairs networking events
the sausalito police department and the
marin county sheriff’s
have agreed to host cpr and first aid
training
for anyone over the age of 14 that lives
in marin city they’ve also committed to
local law enforcement
doing internal training on how
law enforcement interacts with
african americans who have developmental
disabilities
or who may be having a mental health
crisis
in addition to providing crisis centers
so instead of arresting someone who has
a substance abuse problem
they will be referred to the crisis
center
to receive treatment this has resulted
in county-wide support and recognition
from the marine county board of
supervisors
on how to bring law enforcement together
with communities of color
to create communities that are
self-sustaining
and safe we are working towards a
reimagined
community creating programs for the
inner being
to manifest itself outwardly
such as yoga meditation
healing circles for men and women and so
much more
teaching individuals how to look inward
for value
and changing their life by developing
a different emotional skill set here’s
the thing
i am a black man who has been brutalized
by police
i have not given up hope on myself
my community or humanity
i choose to stand in the gap
and see the good in people during this
unrest
there is a commonality on both sides
the community is using its collective
voice to demand
change and i mean demand we know
there are thousands of police officers
who are fed up with their fellow
officers abusing their power
but they must stand up and be active
and disrupt the system from within
there’s a desire for real change to
dismantle the system
which is not working
to provide life-changing
and life-giving opportunity
to a system that insists
on taking lives as a solution
it is my hope to share what we are doing
in marin city
to start the discussion in different
cities
in different states around the country
do you have the courage to stand with us
i’m betting you do
i am working towards an outcome will you
join me
thank you for listening peace
[Music]