The Oladeji Family Survival Guide for being Black in the U.S.
This photo essay explores my generational fear of police officers. From a very young age, I have struggled with coming to terms with my race and how it puts my life at risk. While I am a proud black woman, my life, my sibling’s lives, and so many more lives are at risk because of the color of our skin. “The Oladeji Survival Guide for being Black in the U.S.,” is inspired by real pieces of advice from my parents to my siblings and me. In February 2020, I started capturing Boston Police Officers and MBTA Transit Police officers at a Chinese New Year festival in Chinatown. For the first time, a police presence did not frighten me. Instead, with my camera in hand, I made them run from me. I made them dance. I made them afraid. However, in these moments, I share with these officers, I am sweating and shaking; I am the only one with something to lose. These photos are my attempt to finally have power over an institution that has built itself on the backs of my people. “The Oladeji Survival Guide for being Black in the U.S.,” is dedicated to anyone who fears losing a family member to a misunderstanding.
IF Y deta you atta it is the hav
YOU ARE READING THIS, you need help, and it is perfectly fine to admit that. This book tails some (not all) very important rules for being black in U.S. Remember, the darker u are the more of a threat you are to them. Don’t be foolish and give them a reason to ack. You have people at home who care about you and would like to see you again. Listen, s very simple: don’t dress the wrong way, act the wrong way, move the wrong way, get e wrong job, or be the wrong man. I have no use for this book anymore, as you can see I ve been able to make connections with them; however, they still do not trust me fully.
1. How you dress
is a direct reflection of your stat The second you step outside in sweatpants, “the world will se When I was younger, I thought my father meant poor. I didn’t want me going outside, looking like a “thug” or loo
tus in this world. ee you differently.” I now realize he oking “suspicious.”
2. Always ask for a receipt.
3. Never trust your white friends, 100%.
4. When you get pulled over:
• TURN THE CAR OFF. • TURN THE RADIO OFF. • GET ALL YOUR PAPERS READY BEFORE THE OFFICER REACHES YOUR CAR. • DO NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE. • KEEP BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL AT ALL TIMES.
• WHATEVER YOU DID YOU WERE IN THE WRONG, AND YOU SHOULD APOLOGIZE. • DON’T TRY TO TALK YOUR WAY OUT OF IT. • REMEMBER IF YOU’RE A BLACK PERSON IN A NICE CAR YOU WILL BE PROFILED IMMEDIATELY. • ALSO, IF YOU’RE A BLACK PERSON IN A OLD CAR YOU WILL BE PROFILED IMMEDIATELY.
5. Family is all you
At the end of the day, yo
else outside of your
there is going to know brothers and sisters.
for them, and they nee
got in this world.
ou can’t trust anybody
r house. Nobody out
w you better than your you need to look out
ed to look out for you.
AIDEN ELLISON
WILLIAM GREEN
DAMON GRIMES
WALTER WALLACE JR.
DARIUS TARVER
JAMES LACY
JONATHAN PRICE
MICIAH LEE
CHARLEENA LYLES
DIJON KIZZEE
JOHN NEVILLE
MIKEL MCINTYRE
DAMIAN DANIELS
MICHAEL DEAN
JORDAN EDWARDS
ANTHONY MCCLAIN
ATATIANA JEFFERSON
TIMOTHY CAUGHMAN
JULIAN LEWIS
BYRON WILLIAMS
ALTERIA WOODS
MAURICE ABISDID-WAGNER
ELIJAH MCCLAIN
DESMOND PHILLIPS
RAYSHARD BROOKS
JALEEL MEDLOCK
DEBORAH DANNER
PRISCILLA SLATER
DOMINIQUE CLAYTON
ALFRED OLANGO
ROBERT FORBES
PAMELA TURNER
TERENCE CRUTCHER
KAMAL FLOWERS
RONALD GREENE
CHRISTIAN TAYLOR
JAMEL FLOYD
STERLING HIGGINS
JAMARION ROBINSON
DAVID MCATEE
BRADLEY BLACKSHIRE
DONNELL THOMPSON JR.
JAMES SCURLOCK
ALEAH JENKINS
JOSEPH MANN
CALVIN HORTON JR.
EMANTIC BRADFORD JR.
PHILANDO CASTILE
TONY MCDADE
JEMEL ROBERSON
ALTON STERLING
DION JOHNSON
CHARLES ROUNDTREE JR.
JAY ANDERSON JR.
GEORGE FLOYD
BOTHAM JEAN
DAVID JOSEPH
MAURICE GORDON
HARITH AUGUSTUS
ANTRONIE SCOTT
CORNELIUS FREDERICKS
JASON WASHINGTON
BETTIE JONES
STEVEN TAYLOR
ANTWON ROSE JR.
QUINTONIO LEGRIER
DANIEL PRUDE
ROBERT WHITE
COREY JONES
BREONNA TAYLOR
EARL MCNEIL
SAMUEL DUBOSE
BARRY GEDEUS
MARCUS-DAVID PETERS
DARRIUS STEWART
MANUEL ELLIS
DORIAN HARRIS
SANDRA BLAND
AHMAUD ARBERY
DANNY RAY THOMAS
SUSIE JACKSON
LIONEL MORRIS
STEPHON CLARK
DANIEL SIMMONS
JAQUYN O’NEILL LIGHT
RONELL FOSTER
ETHEL LANCE
#SayThe
MYRA THOMPSON
MARQUISE JONES
SEAN BELL
CYNTHIA HURD
YVETTE SMITH
KATHRYN JOHNSTON
DEPAYNE MIDDLETON-DOCTOR
RENISHA MCBRIDE
TIMOTHY STANSBURY JR.
SHARONDA COLEMAN-
JONATHAN FERRELL
ALBERTA SPRUILL
SINGLETON
DEION FLUDD
ANTHONY DWAIN LEE
CLEMENTA PINCKNEY
GABRIEL WINZER
RICKY BYRDSONG
TYWANZA SANDERS
WAYNE A. JONES
AMADOU DIALLO
KALIEF BROWDER
KIMANI GRAY
JAMES BYRD JR.
FREDDIE GRAY
KAYLA MOORE
NICHOLAS HEYWARD JR.
NORMAN COOPER
COREY STINGLEY
MARY MITCHELL
WALTER SCOTT
DARNESHA HARRIS
SHARON WALKER
NATASHA MCKENNA
JORDAN DAVIS
ELEANOR BUMPURS
RUMAIN BRISBON
MOHAMED BAH
EDWARD GARDNER
TAMIR RICE
SGT. JAMES BROWN
ELTON HAYES
AKAI GURLEY
DARIUS SIMMONS
FRED HAMPTON
TANISHA ANDERSON
REKIA BOYD
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
LAQUAN MCDONALD
TRAYVON MARTIN
ALBERTA ODELL JONES
CAMERON TILLMAN
WILLIE RAY BANKS
JIMMIE LEE JACKSON
DARRIEN HUNT
KENNETH CHAMBERLAIN SR.
JAMES EARL CHANEY
MICHAEL BROWN
CLETIS WILLIAMS
LOUIS ALLEN
KAJIEME POWELL
ROBERT RICKS
MEDGAR EVERS
MICHELLE CUSSEAUX
EUGENE ELLISON
HERBERT LEE
DANTE PARKER
DANROY “DJ” HENRY JR.
JOHN EARL REESE
EZELL FORD
AIYANA STANLEY-JONES
EMMETT TILL
AMIR BROOKS
LAWRENCE ALLEN
WILLIAM MCDUFFIE
JOHN CRAWFORD III
OSCAR GRANT
DELLA MCDUFFIE
ERIC GARNER
JULIAN ALEXANDER
MALCOLM WRIGHT
JERRY DWIGHT BROWN
MARVIN PARKER
GEORGE STINNEY JR.
VICTOR WHITE III
DEAUNTA FARROW
DR. ANDREW C. JACKSON
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