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About Us: AVID magazine is a lifestyle magazine that provides a platform for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and creative professionals. All stories featured are geared to uplift and provide support for other entrepreneurs. Our Mantra:
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On the Cover: Racial Injustice 2020 Created by: Nancy Jackson Back Cover: Racial Injustice 2020
Last Issue: May 2020
AVID MAGAZINE (ISSN 2574-5263) Is A Digital Business Magazine That Is Published Quarterly Only! For Questions Or Advertising Opportunities Please Email Info@theavidmagazine.com. Issue Month Is September 2020. Copyright 2019 By AVID Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction Of This Magazine, In Whole, Or In Part, Is Prohibited Unless Authorized By The Publisher. The Advertising Space Provided In AVID Magazine Is Purchased And Paid For By The Advertiser. None Of The Products Or Services are Necessarily Endorsed By AVID Magazine. 4
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CONTENTS 8 Remembering john lewis John Robert Lewis was an American statesman and civil rights leader who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020.
12 OUR FOREVER SUPERHERO CHADWICK BOSEMAN Black America’s beloved superhero Chadwick Boseman died after a four-year unknown battle with colon cancer at the age of 43.
22 THE LAND OF THE FREE Home of the land of the free, but are we really free? » p.8
16 WE BUY BLACK Show some support and purchase some items from our black business highlights.
22 SURVIVING 2020 Surviving 2020: Stewardship of your Mind, Body and Soul by Ashley M. Martin.
18 EDITORS PICK Check out some of the places our editor picked as some of her favorite places in Houston and Dallas! » p.12 »
28 BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVIE EDITION » p.16
Racial Injustice has been going on for decades now so we compiled some movies that are based on the racial injustice we have enjured in America.
30 RACIAL INJUSTICE IN AMERICA 2020 has been the start of a shift for racism in America that has been widely since around the world thanks to videos and social media. We listed only a few of the stories we know about.
72 BLACK WALL STREET The richest area in Oklahoma that you will never read about in a history book.
F O L LO W U S
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR A Year of Uncertainity It’s only September and most of the world is ready for 2021. 2020 has been a year for the books, filled with heartaches, hardships, grief, and sorrow. The sudden death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in February gathered millions of fans who lit candles and left gifts at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. COVID-19 hit the entire nation by creep killing more than 893,000 people and infecting more than 27.4 million with a disease that has no cure. Slowly from city to city and state to state we were placed on lock downs and shut ins. Shortages in food, water, paper goods, and cleaning supplies made visiting the stores like a rat race. Travel restrictions, 14 day quarantines, social distancing and mask have become our new norm. The shooting of Ahmuad Aubrey, killing of Breaonna Taylor, and cry out heard around the world by George Floyd as he screamed “I can’t breathe” while an officer kneeled on his neck cutting off circulation while other officers pinned his body down. The worldwide video circulations showed the world just how much the black race endures on a daily basis just for being black. The killings of Aubrey, Taylor and Floyd who were all unarmed during their deaths striked protest all over the world calling for justice or no peace. The Black Lives Matter Movement became the forefront of the rage and madness that left many Americans wondering if America is really the land of the free? Races of all kinds gathered to march during peaceful protests that turned violent. Black Lives Matter painted in yellow and
Photo: Suzann e Pe
rez
red surfaced in city after city all over the world along with painted murals on buildings and murals on the grounds of parks. Amy Cooper’s screaming, animal cruelty and lying in Central Park showed us there are still individuals who are afraid of people because of the color of their skin. The Great Civil Rights Icon John Lewis, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. In the 7 month of the pandemic racial injustice has continued to happen with more deaths by police officers that all are calling to defund the police. We recently mourned the death of Chadwick Boseman after his unknown battle with colon cancer. Professional athlete walk outs, outraging protests screaming no justice, no peace, and say her name or his name all in lieu of an election year. It is now more than ever that we all make sure that we are registered to vote and that we grace the polls with our presence. Many argue none of the candidates are good however one has to be better than the other one. Let’s make or mark as we did in 2008 not for us but for all those who have fallen. If you haven’t reached out to others that you care about during this time please make time just to check on them even if it’s just a text. Remember to always be Ambitious, Victorious, Inspiring, and Determined! Be AVID! Instagram: @nancy_theavidmag
Nancy Jackson WWW.THEAVIDMAGAZINE.COM
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Because Of You John Lewis A Civil Rights Icon
John Robert Lewis was an American statesman and civil rights leader who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. Lewis started his journey early in life as he marched under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King. A follower and colleague of Martin Luther King Jr. he participated in lunch counter sit-ins, joined the Freedom Riders in 1961 challenging segregated buses. The Freedom Riders were seven blacks and six whites who were determined to ride from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans in an integrated fashion despite the several southern states who had enforced laws prohibiting black and white riders from sitting next to each other on public transportation. The Freedom Ride was initiated to pressure the federal government to enforce the Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia (1960) that declared segregated interstate bus travel to be unconstitutional. The Freedom Rides also exposed the government's passivity towards violence against law-abiding citizens. The federal government had trusted the notoriously racist Alabama police to protect the Riders, but did nothing itself, except to have FBI agents take notes. The Kennedy Administration then called for a cooling-off period, with a moratorium on Freedom Rides. In the South, Lewis and other nonviolent Freedom Riders were beaten by angry mobs and arrested. At age 21, Lewis was the first of the Freedom Riders to be assaulted while in Rock Hill, South Carolina. When he tried to enter a whites-only waiting room, two white men attacked him, injuring his face and kicking him in the ribs. Nevertheless, only two weeks later Lewis joined a Freedom Ride that was bound for Jackson, Mississippi. "We were determined not to let any act of violence keep us from our goal. We knew our lives could be threatened, but we had made up our minds not 8
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to turn back," Lewis stated about his perseverance following the act of violence. Lewis was also imprisoned for 40 days in the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Sunflower County after participating in a Freedom Riders activity. In an interview with CNN during the 40th anniversary of the Freedom Rides, Lewis recounted the amount of violence he and the 12 other original Freedom Riders endured. In Birmingham, the Riders were beaten with baseball bats, chains, lead pipes, and stones. They were arrested by police who led them across the border into Tennessee and let them go. They reorganized and rode to Montgomery, where they were met with more violence, and Lewis was hit in the head with a wooden crate. "It was very violent. I thought I was going to die. I was left lying at the Greyhound bus station in Montgomery unconscious," said Lewis, remembering the incident. When CORE gave up on the Freedom Ride because of the violence, Lewis and fellow activist Diane Nash arranged for the Nashville students to take it over and bring it to a successful conclusion. In February 2009, 48 years after he was bloodied in a Greyhound station during a Freedom Ride, Lewis received a nationally televised apology on Capitol Hill from a white southerner and former Klansman, Elwin Wilson., he was in his 70’s, with his son in his 40’s. ‘Mr. Lewis, I am one of the people who beat you and your seat mate’” on a bus. “He said, ‘I want to apologize. Will you accept my apology?’” After accepting his apology and hugging the father and son, the three cried together, Lewis remembered. “It is the power in the way of peace, the way of love,” Lewis said. “We must never, ever hate. The way of love is a better way.” At a the age of 23 was a keynote speaker at the historic 1963 March on Washington. Lewis was one of the "Big Six" leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March
on Washington. “We do not want our freedom gradual; we want to be free now,” Lewis stated. He is best known for surviving a brutal beating by police during one of the three landmark marches in 1965 in Selma, Alabama. At age 25, Lewis helped lead the landmark march of three for voting rights on the Edmund Pettus Bridge which became known as Bloody Sunday, where he and other marchers were met by heavily armed state and local police who attacked them with clubs, fracturing Lewis’ skull. Images from that “Bloody Sunday” shocked the nation and galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. “I gave a little blood on that bridge, I thought I was going to die. I thought I saw death.” Lewis said years later. Despite the attack and other beatings, Lewis never lost his activist spirit, taking it from protests to politics. He was elected to the Atlanta city council in 1981, then to Congress six years later to become a towering figure of the civil rights movement and a longtime US congressman. Due to his length of service, he became the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation. Once in Washington, he focused on fighting against poverty and helping younger generations by improving education and health care. He also co-wrote a series of graphic novels about the civil rights movement, which won him a National Book Award. In 1988, the year after he was sworn into Congress, Lewis introduced a bill to create a national African American museum in Washington. The bill failed, and for 15 years he continued to introduce it with each new Congress. Each time it was blocked in the Senate, most often by conservative Southern Senator Jesse Helms. In 2003, Helms retired. The bill won bipartisan support, and President George W. Bush signed the bill to establish the museum, with the Smithsonian's Board of Regents to establish the location. The National Museum of African American History and Culture, located adjacent to the Washington Memorial, held its opening ceremony on September 25, 2016 He was a leader of the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1991 as a Chief Deputy Whip and from 2003 as Senior Chief Deputy Whip. Lewis received many honorary degrees and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Lewis died after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 80. Lewis had vowed to fight the disease after announcing in late December 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, which was discovered as a result of a routine medical visit and subsequent testing. “I have been in some kind of fight for freedom, equality, basic human rights for nearly my entire life. I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now,” he stated in his announcement. The death of the civil rights icon came as the nation is still grappling with racial upheaval in the wake of the death of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests that have swept the nation. Along with our long battle with Covid-19 and struggles to bring the virus under control. “It is with inconsolable grief and enduring sadness that we announce the passing of U.S. Rep. John Lewis,” his family said in a statement. “He was honored and respected as the conscience of the US Congress and an icon of American history, but we knew him as a loving father and brother. He was a stalwart champion in the on-going struggle to demand respect for the dignity and worth of every human being. He dedicated his entire life to non-violent activism and was an outspoken advocate in the struggle for equal justice in America. He will be deeply missed.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced his death in a statement, “Today, America mourns the loss of one of the greatest heroes of American history: Congressman John Lewis, the Conscience of the Congress,” the California Democrat said. Lewis, a Democrat who was widely seen as a moral conscience of Congress because of his decades-long embodiment of nonviolent fight for civil rights. His passionate oratory was backed by a long record of action that included, by his count, more than 40 arrests while demonstrating against racial and social injustice. He fulfilled many key roles in the civil rights movement and its actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States. “Sometimes when I look back and think about it, how did we do what we did? How did we succeed? We didn’t have a website. We didn’t have a cellular telephone. But I felt when we were sitting in at those lunch counter stools, or going on the Freedom Ride, or marching from Selma to Montgomery, there was a power and a force. God Almighty was there with us.” Lewis said in reference to the civil rights movement. WWW.THEAVIDMAGAZINE.COM
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Lewis was able to see an Black elected president, a moment he said he never thought would come despite his decades long fight for equality. He described attending President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration as an “out-of-body” experience. “When we were organizing voter-registration drives, going on the Freedom Rides, sitting in, coming here to Washington for the first time, getting arrested, going to jail, being beaten, I never thought, I never dreamed of the possibility that an African American would one day be elected president of the United States,” stated Lewis. In 2011, after more than 50 years on the front lines of the civil rights movement, Lewis received the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, placed round his neck by America’s first Black president. Obama said in a statement following Lewis’ death that the civil rights icon will “continue, even in his passing, to serve as a beacon” in America’s journey towards a more perfect union. “He loved this country so much that he risked his life and his blood so that it might live up to its promise. And through the decades, he not only gave all of himself to the cause of freedom and justice, but inspired generations that followed to try to live up to his example,” Obama said. “Because of you, John.” -Barack Obama Obama paid tribute to his ‘hero’ John Lewis stating that ‘John’s life was exceptional’ as he delivered his eulogy. 116 Congress, 2nd Session Formerly the Office of Representative John Lewis an American civil rights leader and politician best known for his “good trouble” will always be remembered but never the same. Lewis always called on the younger generation to continue to work for justice and an end to hatred in America. “I’ve said to students, ‘When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something, to say something. And Dr. King inspired us to do just that.” His activism was inspired by the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his anger of the unfairness of the Jim Crow South along with his personal effect of racism in America while in college, he launched what he called “good trouble” with organized protests and sit-ins. “I want to see young people in America feel the spirit of the 1960s and find a way to get in the way. To find a way to get in trouble. Good trouble, necessary trouble. Young people can and should push for transformative change and hold us accountable to it.” I encourage everyone reading this to find a way to get into “good trouble.”
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OUR FOREVER SUPERHERO 12
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A tribute to a King that is well deserved! On August 28, 2020, the world was saddened by the news about the “Black Panther” actor Chadwick Boseman, Black America’s beloved superhero who died after a four-year unknown battle with colon cancer at the age of 43.
films of the year in the United States. He reprised the role in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which were released in 2018 and 2019.. Both films were the highest grossing of the year they were released, with Endgame going on to become the highest-grossing film of all time. A statement about his death was released on the In 2019, he starred in 21 Bridges, an American aciconic actor’s Twitter account. tion thriller film directed by Brian Kirk. In 2020, he completed one of his newest films in the Netflix “It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the war drama film Da 5 Bloods, directed by Spike Lee passing of Chadwick Boseman. Chadwick was diag- which was released on June 12, 2020. nosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and he battled with it these last 4 years as it progressed to Boseman’s death was a shock to the world because stage IV,” the post read. “A true fighter, Chadwick he did not speak publicly about his cancer diagpersevered through it all, and brought you so many nosis, and continued to work while receiving treatof the films you have come to love so much. From ments and numerous surgeries. His perseverance Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rain- and dedication to his craft helped to change the ey’s Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed mindset of individuals who have been hardened during and between countless surgeries and che- by COVID-19. He was a true icon because he never motherapy.” gave up and he lived his life in his last days giving everything he had to the world through his roles Boseman graced the big screens with his presence and philanthropy works with cancer hospitals and in several box office iconic movies getting his first several communities. His strife and warrior spirit was starring role in the 2013 film 42, in which he por- truly appreciated by those who knew and worked trayed baseball pioneer and star Jackie Robinson. with him. He was described by his peers as a man His death came on the day Major League Baseball of “great hope” and he had a “generosity spirit” that was celebrating Jackie Robinson Day, which is usu- was unwavering. ally celebrated on April 15 but was delayed due to the pandemic. Major League Baseball tweeted that He cared deeply for humanity about his people and “his transcendent performance in ‘42’ will stand the our state of being that his final tweet should be a retest of time and serve as a powerful vehicle to tell minder to us that WE MUST VOTE and not take this Jackie’s story to audiences for generations to come.” 2020 election lightly. #WhenWeAllVote #Vote2020 In 2014, Boseman appeared opposite Kevin Costner in Draft Day, in which he played an NFL draft prospect. Later that year, he starred as James Brown in Get on Up. In 2016, Boseman became a global icon for his role in portraying the Marvel Comics character King T’Challa which we all know as the Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War being his first film in a five-picture deal with Marvel. He headlined Black Panther in 2018, which focused on his character and his home country of Wakanda in Africa. The film became one of the highest-grossing
Unbeknownst to the world for years he pushed through ever role working and operating in high purpose that his legacy will never be forgotten and always remembered as our forever superhero. RIP King T’Challa….Wakanda forever!
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W E BU Y BLAC K Building Your Beauty Empire
Lyndsey Brantley is a national recognized beauty training instructor and certified Medical Aesthetics Practitioner, she is a mentor to estheticians, and the founder of Camellia Alise, a company dedicated to elevating the spa industry as a whole. She has worked with some of the best and brightest spa owners in the field; and contributed her expertise to the branding and positioning of major product launches.
GOD IS DOPE
Shop stylish tees, hats, and hoodies today. A spiritual and religious clothing line that brings awareness to God through fashion apparel and influence.
Prices range from $10.95 and up Products are available at https://www. camelliaalise.com/ products/buildingyour-beauty-empire
Prices range from $4.99 and up. Products are available at https:// www.godisdope.com/ collections/best-selling
DISTINGUISHED ONE
Distinguished One Clothing is a quality lifestyle brand designed for all ages that are creative, enlightened, and motivated to succeed. Our shirts inspire individuals who are distinguished in their own right and who aspire for better. Each shirt is carefully thought out and expertly planned to be more than just something you wear, it is a message which you share with everyone who sees it.
ELEV8 PRINT AND DESIGN, LLC
“Jesus is Greater�. This shirt signifies that there is nothing in this world that can be compared to his Greatness.
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Prices range from $10 and up. Products are available at https:// distinguishedone.com
Prices start at $10.99$19.99. Products are available at http:// www.elev8printdesign. com/store.html.
SUP S UPPP OR T TODAY CHAK THERAPY
Chak Therapy is an exclusive product line designed to honor the seven primary chakras of the body while promoting self-care and intentionality in our daily routine. You are probably asking yourself what are chakras and why are they so important? The chakra system is the energy centers within the human body that helps to regulate all its processes, from organ function to the immune system and emotions.
THE SIX FIGURE CHICK
RIP to The Six Figure Chick, and the Queen Bee of Instagram strategy, master of digital monetization and reigning expert on digital product creation for online business owners who want to 10x their community growth, cash in on their knowledge and pull in profits daily. {Proceeds from all purchases will be donated to cancer research.}
WALL STREET TRAPPER
From The Trap To Wallstreet is not only a brand, but a movement dedicated to empowering & improving the financial state of Urban American. The foundation of this movement is to highlight the power of the black dollar & Transition it from being used to make other races and nationalities wealthy, to allowing it to now be our most powerful tool in building wealth for ourselves & generations that follow.
SIMPLY SCENTS CANDLE CO.
WE MAKE CANDLES THAT MAKE SCENTS
Simply Scents Candle Company has several different products that consist of triple scented candles, room fragrant sprays, wax melts, oil burners, reed diffusers, jelly jars, electric burners, bath and body products, accessories, and more.
Prices range $7.77 and up. Products are available at https://chaktherapy. com/shop.
Prices range from $19 and up. Products are available at http:// thesixfigurechick.co.
Prices range from $15 and up. Products are available at https://www. wallstreettrapping. com/shop.
Prices start at $3.50 and up. Products are available at https://www. simplyscentsbyshan. com/skin-care.
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E D I TO R ’S P I C K
We support Black Businesses Stuff’d Wings I had heard so much about this food truck, I had to try it. After several failed trips due to being SOLD OUT. I finally got my hands on this amazing craze that everyone was talking about. Let’s say I couldn’t just eat 5 wings so make sure you get a 8 or 10 piece. All four flavors are a must try Chicken Boudain, Mac N Cheese, Pork/Beef Boudain, Seafood Boudain however my favorite was the Seafood Boudain. Follow them at @stuffdwings_htx
That Funnel Cake Place The anticipation of waiting got the best of me. My first attempt just happened to be on a day of an unexpected emergency. However, I didn’t let that stop me. I attempted again and my, my, my was it worth it. With 6 choices to choose from I just wanted to try them all but I opted for the Oreo Overload and the Cheesecake Funnel Cake. But don’t you worry I’ll be back to try the Banana Lush, Smores Funnel Cake, and Red Velvet Deluxe. Follow them at @that_funnel_cake_ place 18
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It’s National Black History Month! In celebration we are highlighting several Black Businesses. Be sure to SUPPORT THEM out, like, and follow them on social media.
Cupcake Kitchen Houston Cupcakes and Soul Food, yes you heard it right desserts and soul food, yum. Cupcake Kitchen Houston will not dissappoint you. Try the Seafood Bowl, Salmon and Shrimp Dinner, Caribbean Jerk Chicken Wing Dinner, and don’t forget to get a desert. The Red Velvet Cheesecake and one of those cupcake shakes are the ish. Follow them at @ cupcakekitchenhouston
The Greasy Spoon I was worried about a long line but I hit it just right. The ducked off gem hit the spot. I would have to say that my favorite thing however was the Mac n’Cheese and the Fried Boudin Eggrolls. The Cajun Fried Chicken, and The Boss Seafood Stack is a must try. Follow them at @thegreasyspoonhtx
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We support Black Businesses Lucille’s Lucille’s is the ideal brunch spot. Try the Fried Green Tomatoes, Chicken & Waffles, Croissant French Toast with wings, Hot Chicken Sandwich, the Shrimp & Grits, and the Catfish & Grits. Make sure you add a woke punch to your meal. Follow them at @lucilleshouston
Phil and Dereks Houston’s most popular southern Creole/Cajun restaurant and live upbeat Jazz/R&B music. They have a great menu with so many great items to choose from Try the SEAFOOD PLATTER, BAYOU CATFISH, VOODOO SPRING ROLLS, CAJUN SEAFOOD PASTA, FRIED MAC N’ CHEESE BALLS, LOBSTER & WAFFLES, and the SEAFOOD FONDUE POTATO. If you go for burnch pair any item with a BRUNCH PUNCHA or a GRAND HENNESEY. Follow them at @philanddereks
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It’s National Black History Month! In celebration we are highlighting several Black Businesses. Be sure to SUPPORT THEM out, like, and follow them on social media.
South Side Steaks and Cakes We heard that SOUTHSIDE THE REALEST and it was no lie. If you are in Dallas stop in to try south side steaks and cakes it will definetely be a treat. Where do i start, try the Big Baby northside or southside philly cheesesteak and with the steakchos southside experience, the realest or the cowboy phillycheesesteak with the Philly my quesodilla or philly my fries experience. Also, try one of the scootamacks daily specials. The hood tacos are the truth. Follow them at @southside_steaks_ cakes
OMG Seafood i love me some good seafood and OMG sEAFOOD IS A MUST TRY. STOP INTO ONE OF THE 3 LOCATIONS IN HOUSTON AND TRY THE GRAND DADDY PLATTER, BAYOU BAG, AND THE OMG SEAFOOD PASTA. If you like turkey necks then the omg king platter would be a great option for you. Follow them at @omgseafood
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Nickcole Byrd
Byrd’s ultimate goal is to proper the power and mysteries of God to transform a nation and she is doing just that through her organization 700 AD. 700 AD is a space that was created for a community of women who have lost their spouses. Losing a loved one can be very difficult and a process that requires healing that is why Byrd now speaks to women all over the world on Grieving Well, Prayer and Therapy Works, and Stigmas in the Black Community.
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rief and Wellness Coach, Nikole Byrd has a great passion and zeal to see women live their lives in what she coins as ‘complete wholeness.’ She has made it her mission to speak to those that have lost loved ones to elevate their hearts and minds to a place of healing and recovery. Through her work as the Founder of 700 AD (After Death), she focuses on creating spaces, where women can experience both Community and Emotional Support. Her message, ‘healing and recovery are possible if you actively participate in the process’. The process she teaches is the real work towards getting to the other side of grief. After losing her husband almost a year ago, she found that death could be the greatest teacher. She continues to speak to masses of women who are hurting by creating awareness about the powerful transformation one can experience even in a crisis. She has made it a commitment to distill all stigmas about emotional health amongst the black and faith communities. Her message of hope is the method of faith and therapy are a perfect combination in healing and moving forward.
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AVID Magazine: Why the name 700 AD? Nickole Byrd: Studies show 700,000 women are widowed each year in the United States, and on average, widows only survive for 14 years after their spouse’s death. 700 represents the number of grieving widows that I want to help each year who do not have access to resources needed. AD stands for After Death. Her book The Widow’s Oil- Activating God’s Blessing In The Midst of Disappointment, inspires women to live beyond the disappointment. This session unveils for women the value of activating what’s left, purpose, and assignment through serving others and fulfilling God’s plan for your life. Your husband died but your God-ordained purpose did not SO LIVE! AVID Magazine: Why name the book The Widow’s Oil? Nickole Byrd: While going through a turning point in my journey I discovered that even though I had lost my husband, I didn’t lose my purpose. God said, “Your husband’s death did not take away your purpose.” As an Associate Pastor at Higher Dimensions Church, founder of several organizations, author, professor, grief and wellness coach, mothe, and friend Byrd continues her journey to empower, inspire, persevere, and walk in her purpose.
Kenneth E. Lloyd CEO & Philanthropist
K
enneth Earl Lloyd known to everyone as “Kenny” has spent more than 15 years building multi-million-dollar empires as an executive and distributor for several major global network marketing companies. As a powerhouse in Ardyss International and Total Life Changes to name a few, he had achieved tremendous financial success personally as an almost seven-figure monthly residual earner. Going from broke as hell to living well, Kenny knew a thing or two to help thousands do the same. He has been more than generous enough with his time to duplicate that success by closely working with and helping at least 14 families to become multi-million-dollar earners in direct sales. With all that he has accomplished helping others, at the time he turned 60, he could have retired very comfortably but his spirit was very restless. He knew he had not yet fulfilled his purpose in life to lead and impact even more people around the world to achieve financial freedom. There was still work to be done. When asked about his mantra, “Hard work is more than just words, it’s a lifestyle,” says Kenny. In fact, it’s a Tava Lifestyle. Launching his own network marketing company headquartered in Houston, Texas, Kenny is the CEO/President and Visionary of Tava Lifestyle, a direct sales wellness company. The direct selling business is a $250+ Billion Dollar industry. There are over 10,000 direct sales companies globally with over $40+ Billion paid out in yearly commissions around the world. In just 6 months after starting, Tava debuted on BusinessforHome.org at number 33 out of the top 500 fastest growing of these international direct sales businesses. Kenny along with his co-founder wife, Chante, designed and built Tava to be a vessel that people can leverage during their personal storms, particularly the financial storms in their lives. Moving at a steady pace, Kenny extended his company into Canada in November 2019 and it now has almost 20K independent distributorships company wide. Raised in Detroit, MI, Kenny attended Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN where he studied Psychology. For him, success and significance are a part of his DNA. His father, Earl Lloyd was the first African-American to play in the NBA and is in the NBA Hall of Fame. This historical legacy continues to live through Kenny and his children, Sierra, Alexander and Myles Lloyd who are each making major contributions in business, arts & entertainment. Kenny has certainly made some smart moves in his life. Without a doubt, he would be the first to admit that one of his smartest moves was
to marry his beautiful and very business savvy wife, Chante, who continues to build and serve by his side. Together, they make a dynamic leadership duo who exudes black excellence. Kenny not only knows how to make money but he has a big heart to give it away too. He is the Founder of the Lloyd Family Foundation which provides monetary donations and resources, Christmas gifts and Thanksgiving meals to families in need. He is most passionate about its program See It Through which provides high school students college scholarships and it assists them with job placement. He has also served on the Houston Leadership Council of the UNCF. For his tireless commitment to bettering the quality of life of others, Kenny has received many honors and accolades in business and many community and national recognitions for his philanthropic engagement. Highly influenced by his late mother Dr. Virginia Lloyd, he inherited her love of entertaining family and friends, interior design and fashion. His philosophy is simple. “Every day is a dress rehearsal for your breakthrough. You must bring your A-Game all the time. Develop and present yourself as the total package, because you can’t sell a dream looking like a nightmare.”
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THE LAND OF THE FREE
Home of the land of the free, but are we really free? The state of the black race in America is troubling, every day we are trying to stay alive, praying we don’t get killed while being black today. Black men and black boys are being judged on the color of their skin even though Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated in his famous I Have a Dream speech, that we should be judged by the content of our character. How did bird watching in central park and asking someone to follow park rules turn into a racist matter? When did dreaming and jogging, coming home after a long day of working as an EMT, and shopping in a convenience store all while black became a crime? How many 24
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times do we have to say “I can’t breathe” for a change to happen? Year after year, month after month, state after state, city after city black people are fighting the same injustice.
“Home of the brave and free, free just to murder me,” lyrics from the T.I.’s song New National Anthem was relevant during the release in 2014 and still holds the same relevance in 2020. As a country, we refuse to deal with the issues at hand. When will enough be enough? We live in a society where we have to continuously remind ourselves, our family, and friends of the risk our black bodies constantly face daily. Why do we have to learn to adapt to a different rule every day for a biased justice sys-
tem? We put our hands up, we don’t resist arrest, we are not a threat but we are still murdered all because we are black. What do we tell our little black girls and little black boys? How are we supposed to handle being black and being stopped by a cop or white neighborhood watch members who can make citizens arrest? How many more Trayvon’s, Philando’s, Dominique’s, Eric’s, Michael’s, Alton’s, Sandra’s, Breonna’s, Freddie’s, Tamir’s, Ahmaud’s, George’s, have to leave this earth? To protect and ser ve is a joke. Every day we fear and dread any potential interaction with law enforcement, for fear that we might become the next tragic victims of an anodyne situation gone dead-
“This shouldn’t be ‘normal’ in 2020 America. It can’t be ‘normal.’ If we want our children to grow up in a nation that lives up to its highest ideals, we can and must be better.” - Barack Obama ly wrong like the on-going report of a string of burcases we have witnessed glaries in the neighborhood over the past few months. in which they accused Aubrey of committing. In New York, avid bird-lover Christian Cooper asked a And this week, George Floyd white woman, Amy Cooper, was killed by a Minneapolis to follow park rules and put police officer who was called her dog on a leash. When to investigate the alleged use she aggressively refused, he of counterfeit currency at a started filming which infu- retail establishment. After riated her. She then called security video surveillance 911 and lied to authorities footage was released Floyd stating that “an African never resisted arrest, he American man is threaten- complied. The police officer ing my life” while choking kneeled on Floyd’s neck as he cried for his mother and her dog. gasped, “I can’t breathe.” In Brunswick, Georgia, Ahmaud Arbery was shot and U.S. Surgeon General Jekilled in February during rome Adams said, “there is a confrontation involving no easy prescription to heal three white men as he was our nation, or take away the jogging through the Satilla pain people are experiencShores neighborhood. The ing.” Adams t weeted that men claimed to make a citi- “it’s a pain I too am experizen’s arrest due to a recent encing…because I’m black.”
The U.S. “must acknowledge & address the impact of racism on health,” he said. “We won’t fix or remove all the obstacles and stressors that are affecting people’s health and wellbeing especially ones like racism overnight. That doesn’t mean we mustn’t try at all,” Adams t weeted. When will we address the real issues at hand? Something must be done in this country so that someday we can really live free, free of bondage in the home of the brave.
Photo Sources: WGXA, EPA, ABACA, Image via Getty/Anadolu Agency, Dave Schwarz, St. Cloud Time, Stephen Maturen/Getty Images, A. Van Sise/NurPhoto via Getty Images, Sean Rayford/Getty Images, Star Tribune/Getty
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“A FIGHT FO
Fibonacci Blue
Christopher Winston
Curtis Compton Credit: AP Copyright: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“The interactions between the police and black men is too frequent and awfully senseless” Getty Images
“We’re We’re still dealing in an America where black p ing killed in some of the most arbitrary ways: Driv walking while black and now, we have to add livin
STAN REAVES/SHUTTERSTOCK
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Candice Montgomery
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
OR JUSTICE”
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Cem
Ozdel/Anadolu
etty
Agency/G
Tony Dejak
“Another black man added to their bodycount.”
people are beving while black, ng while black.”
Getty Images
Jim Mone / AP, file
PHOTO BY FIONA GOODALL/GETTY IMAGES
Nate Gartrell / Bay Area News Group via AP
Antonio Perez
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BLACK LIVES M
THESE MOVIES ARE HEARTBREAKING BUT THEY PORTR
16 SHOTS
FRUITVALE STATION
JASPER, TEXAS
A documentary examining the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke and the cover-up that ensued. After the police initially declared the shooting as justified, journalists and activists fought for footage of the event to be released, sending the Chicago Police Department and local Chicago government officials into upheaval as the community demanded justice.
The film depicts the story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old from Hayward, California, and his experiences on the last day of his life, before he was fatally shot by BART Police in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009. The movie begins with the actual footage of Oscar Grant and his friends being detained by the BART Police at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland on January 1, 2009, at 2:15 a.m. right before the shooting.
In Jasper, Texas, in June 1998, three self-proclaimed white supremacists chain James Byrd Jr., to the back of their pickup truck and drag him to his death over three miles of country road. When the town is forced to deal with an onslaught of media coverage that thrusts it into the collective conscience of the entire country and the arrival of contentious members of the Ku Klux Klan, and the Black Panthers, the once peaceful relationship between its white and black citizens is subjected to tension. Trying to maintain peace in the community as the trial of the three perpetrators commences are black mayor R.C. Horn and white sheriff Billy Rowles, neither of whom is prepared to handle all the negative publicity. Justice is served when two of the men are condemned to death and the third is sentenced to life in prison.
Release Date: June 7, 2019 Original Broadcast: Showtime Genre: Documentary, Drama Director: Rick Rowley Running Time: 99 minutes
While being restrained by officers Caruso and Ingram, he is shot in the back by Ingram. He is rushed to the hospital, where he dies in surgery.
Release Date: July 12, 2013 Genre: Biographical Drama Director: Ryan Coogler Writer: Ryan Coogler Running Time: 85 minutes
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Release Date: June 8, 2003 Original Broadcast: Showtime
Genre: Drama Director: Jeffrey W. Byrd Writer: Jonathan Estrin Running Time: 114 minutes
MATTER MOVIES
RAY ONLY 1/3 OF THE RACIAL INJUSTICE IN AMERICA.
LET THE FIRE BURN
MISSISSIPPI BURNING
THE HATE U GIVE
Let the Fire Burn is a 2013 documentary film about the events leading up to and surrounding a 1985 stand-off between the black liberation group MOVE and the Philadelphia Police Department. The MOVE organization was originally established as a “back to nature” movement that practiced “green” methods. In 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department decided to take action to evict the group from their row house at 6221 Osage Avenue. When gunfire broke out and tear gas was not enough to pull the MOVE members out of the house, the police decided to drop explosives on the house. Eleven people (MOVE founder John Africa, five other adults, and five children aged 7 to 13) died in the resulting fire, and more than 250 people in the neighborhood were left homeless
In 1964, three civil rights workers — two Jewish and one black — go missing while in Jessup County, Mississippi, organizing a voter registry for African Americans. The FBI sends two agents, Alan Ward and Rupert Anderson to investigate. Ward is a Northerner, senior in rank but younger than Anderson, and approaches the investigation by the book, whereas Anderson, a former Mississippi sheriff, is more nuanced in his approach. The pair find it difficult to conduct interviews with the local townspeople, as Sheriff Ray Stuckey and his deputies exert influence over the public, and are linked to a branch of the Ku Klux Klan. Their bodies are later found buried in an earthen dam.
Starr Carter is constantly switching between two worlds -- the poor, mostly black neighborhood where she lives and the wealthy, mostly white prep school that she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is soon shattered when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend at the hands of a police officer. Facing pressure from all sides of the community, Starr must find her voice and decide to stand up for what’s right.
Release Date: October 2, 2013 Genre: Documentary Director: Jason Osder Running Time: 95 minutes
Release Date: October 5, 2018 Genre: Drama Director: George Tillman Jr. Based on: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Running Time: 133 minutes
Release Date: December 9, 1988 Genre: Biographical Crime Thriller Director: Alan Parker Writer: Chris Gerolmo Running Time: 128 minutes
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The Cry Out Heard Around the World It was the cry that was heard around the world as George Floyd, 46 cried out “I can’t breathe” and “Momma,” while a Minneapolis police officer kneels on Floyds neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds while two other officers pinned his body down. Footage surfaced swiftly around the world of that May 25, 2020 horrific moment and the repeatedly screaming of Floyd saying “I can’t breathe”. Floyd was seen on the ground near a police SUV, yelling out that he is in pain. “Please, please, please I can’t breathe, please man,” The officer can be seen with his knee pressed into the back of Floyd’s head and neck while two other officers 30
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are also kneeling on Floyd while another officer walks around. It wasn’t until EMS arrived that those officers got off of Floyd as they picked up his limp and unconscious body in which he was later
pronounced dead later in hospital. This situation escalated into an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill after a Cups Food store employee called 911, with claims that fit the description of Floyd. The clerk stated that a man had purchased cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. According to the scanner audio, officers found a man matching the description of the suspect sitting on the hood of his car. The incident was recorded on police body camera, according to the department. Seventeen minutes after the first squad car arrived at the scene, Floyd was unconscious and pinned beneath three police officers, show-
ing no signs of life. Several bystanders recorded the incident and begged the officers to let him up and to let him breathe, while you can hearFloyd cry out, “I’m about to die.” The officer tells him to relax and asks, “what do you want?” Floyd then responds, “I can’t breathe. Please, the knee in my neck, I can’t breathe sir.” Floyd then calls out “momma” as the officer yells at him. Floyd then says, “my stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts,” and asks for water. The video shows Floyd, who is handcuffed behind his back, motionless with his face on the pavement as bystanders say, “he’s not f*cking moving,” and “did they f*cking kill him?” When EMTs arrive, the officer lifts his knee, and Floyd’s head hangs limp as the medics move him to a stretcher, while still handcuffed behind his back. The four officers involved in the incident were fired according to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The incident led to protests all over the world for days in addition to the protest for Breonna Taylor and Ahmuad Aubrey. Funerals were held in a few cities in memory of Floyd including his home city of Houston, TX. Thousands gathered downtown to protest, gathered outside the Fountain of Praise Church, and lined up along the streets of Pearland to watch his final departure as a white horse and carriage carried his golden casket down the street to his final resting place.
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#IRUNWITHMUAD Sean Rayford/Getty
Ahmaud Arbery, a fit athlete, was out jogging near his home on a Sunday afternoon in Brunswick, Georgia on February 23, 2020, when two white supremacists saw him, got their guns, got in a truck, chased him down, pulled up next to him, shot him at least two times, and killed him right there on the spot. Ahmaud was unarmed, broke no laws, and did nothing wrong. He was only 25 years old when he died. The attackers were a former police officer and retired investigator for the DA’s office, and his son Travis. When the men saw Ahmaud running in their neighborhood, Satilla Shores, a predominantly white community, he and his son immediately armed themselves with a shotgun and a 357 magnum, hopped into their pickup truck, chased him down and shot him claiming to make a citizen’s arrest. Getting justice for Aubrey has been an uphill battle from the start. Given the attackers’ close relationship with law enforcement, transparency and accountability cannot be taken for granted in any way. The Glynn County Police department, responsible for the initial investigation into Aubrey’s death, is a notoriously corrupt institution. Year after year, their officers have been involved in scandal after scandal, involving offenses like inap-
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propriate sexual contact with informants in a narcotics investigation, and lying to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and interfering with investigations into police-involved shootings. The initial police report shows an appalling lack of investigation into the case, citing only the killers account of the case. The case has been passed along to a new prosecutor two times due to conflicts of interest, and now sits with a new prosecutor in Hinesville, Georgia. He must decide whether to move forward with pursuing charges against the men or to accept their explanation that the killing was justified in self-defense. In light of overwhelming public pressure, the new DA has announced that he will bring the case before a Grand Jury to decide whether charges should be brought against these two men, and the FBI and GBI have involved themselves in the case, but our work is not done. Given the threat these two men pose to the public, they should be immediately arrested and held pending the Grand Jury decision. Also, given the facts of the case, the FBI must bring hate crime charges against the two men to hold them accountable for this act of racial violence.
SAY HER NAME
Breonna Taylor The fatal police shooting of 26-year-old ER technician Breonna Taylor sparked days of protests in Louisville that drew thousands but it wouldn’t compare to the millions that have marched and protested all over the world in her honor.
Apparently Taylor’s home was being watched as being a place to house drugs and money due to her relation with a known drug dealer who was being targeted. However, there was no stakeout before the invasion that proved the suspect in question was at the Her shooting adds to the mul- home. tiple investigations due to the unlawful death of several black Taylor’s life was ended based people in less than 3 months. on an assumption and knowing a criminal. In the black Police were executing a search community the majority of warrant referred to as a “no us know a criminal, does that knock warrant” at Taylor’s Lou- mean that we are also guilty of isville apartment as part of a a crime? narcotics investigation just before 1 a.m. on March 13, 2020. Walker has since then been reTaylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth leased as community leaders, Walker, stated that the officers celebs and activists pushed did not announce themselves for his release and his right to as they entered the home fire in self defense. and in self defense the LTC permit holder fired a single Activists, community leaders shot, striking an officer. Walker and state and federal lawwas arrested on the scene for makers have all called for shooting a police officer. independent investigations into Taylor’s death, protests Officers that enter Taylor’s have been organized in cithome fired more than 20 shots ies all across the world calling striking Taylor at least eight for justice, chanting “Say her times with no reason to shoot. name, Breonna Taylor.” She died in the hallway of her apartment and no justice has been served for the wrongful death of Taylor. WWW.THEAVIDMAGAZINE.COM
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RACIAL INJUSTICE
Say her name: Sandra Bland Sandra Bland was a 28-year-old African American woman who was found hanged in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas, on July 13, 2015, three days after being arrested during a pretextual traffic stop. Her death was ruled a suicide.
Pictured: Sandra Bland Location: Texas Year: 2015
Bland was pulled over for a minor traffic violation on July 10, 2015 by State Trooper Brian Encinia. The exchange escalated, resulting in Bland’s arrest and charge for assaulting a police officer. The arrest was partially recorded by Encinia’s dashcam, a bystander’s cell phone, and Bland’s own cell phone. After authorities reviewed the dashcam footage, Encinia was placed on administrative leave for failing
to follow proper traffic stop procedures. Texas authorities and the FBI conducted an investigation into Bland’s death and determined the Waller County jail did not follow required policies, including time checks on inmates and ensuring that employees had completed required mental health training.
“I Can’t Breathe” On July 17, 2014 Eric Garner, New York Police Department officers on the scene accused Garner of selling untaxed cigarettes and attempted to arrest him in Staten Island. this happened shortly after a fight broke out nearby thatGarner helped break up.
due him. On the ground, Garner can be heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe.”
Garner, a 43-year-old father of six who was unarmed at the time, argued with the officers about why he was being targeted. To corral Garner, one officer used what appeared to be a chokehold, a technique banned by the NYPD. Several others helped drag him to the ground. Garner, who had a history of health problems, died soon after.
“I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” Garner said repeatedly, his cries muffled into the pavement.
Gardners friend recorded the incident on his phone and the video has helped turn the fatal encounter from a local tragedy into a national debate over the use of force by police. The video shows what appears to be one officer pressing Garner’s face into the sidewalk as other officers attempt to sub-
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Seconds later, a video shows the officer behind Garner grab him in a chokehold and pull him to the sidewalk, rolling him onto his stomach.
Pictured: Eric Gardner Location: New York Year: 2014
(PHOTO) RACIAL
INJUSTICE
Just Selling CD’s
“How does a traffic stop end up with the police killing an 18-year-old On July 5, 2016, Alton Sterling, 37, was shot dead at close range by two white Baton Rouge Police Department officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The officers were attempting to control Sterling's arms, when Sterling was shot and killed.
Pictured: Alton Sterling Location: Baton Rouge Year: 2016
Police were responding to a report that a man in a red shirt was selling CDs and that he had used a gun to threaten a man outside a convenience store. The owner of the store where the shooting occurred said that Sterling had started carrying a gun a few days prior to the event as other CD vendors had been robbed recently. He also said that Sterling was "not the one causing trouble" during the situation that led to the police being called. The shooting was recorded by multiple bystanders. At 12:35 a.m., at 2112 North Foster Drive in the parking lot of Triple S Food Mart, Sterling was detained by Baton Rouge Police Department officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake. This came after an anonymous caller reported that a man was threatening him and waving a handgun while in the process of selling CDs. When Sterling refused to cooperate, the officers tasered Sterling for resisting several times, then forced Sterling to the hood of a sedan and then to the ground to subdue him. Sterling was pinned to the ground by both officers; one kneeling on his chest and the other on his thigh, both attempting unsuccessfully to control his arms.
As Sterling’s right hand remained free, Salamoni exclaimed, “He’s going into his pockets! He’s got a gun! Gun!” Lake, pointing his gun, yelled, “Hey bro, if you fucking move, I swear to God!” Then Salamoni was heard on the video saying, “Lake, he’s going for the gun!” The camera caught Salamoni firing three shots, panning away while three more shots were fired before panning back to show Sterling’s body sprawled out. Lake was not in the picture and Salamoni was about 3 feet away, with his gun drawn and pointed at Sterling, who had a gunshot wound in his chest. Sterling was shot a total of six times all within close range. The officers retrieved a loaded .38 caliber revolver from Sterling’s front pants pocket. The officers then radioed for Emergency Medical Services. Multiple bystanders’ cell phones captured videos of the shooting as well as store surveillance cameras and officer body cameras. A second video was made available the day after the shooting by the store owner and eyewitness, who said in a statement “Sterling never wielded the gun or threatened the officers.” In March 2018, the bodycam footage from the officer who shot him was released, revealing that, seconds after arriving to help the other officer already engaged in trying to detain Sterling, he pulled his gun and threatened to shoot Sterling if he moved.
A Black Man Killed by Police in his Own Home. Killed in his apartment Botham Shem Jean, 26, a black man, was in his own apartment in Dallas September 6, 2018, when Amber Guyger, his downstairs neighbor and an off-duty police officer, shot him inside his own apartment. Jean was not accused or suspected of any crime. Guyger, a four-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department, says the shooting was an accident. The tragic culmination of a series of missed warning signs that revolve around a mistaken belief that she was in her own apartment. According to Guyger’s account, when she arrived home to the South Side Flats apartments on September 6, she didn’t realize she had gotten out on the wrong floor of her building and that the apartment she was in was not, in fact, hers. Seeing a “large silhouette” in the dark apartment, she said she thought she was being burglarized. So she shot, hitting Jean in the chest. When she turned on the lights in the apartment, she realized her mistake,
CNN reported. “A neighbor stated he heard an exchange of words, immediately followed by at least two gunshots,” the warrant noted. This account suggests Jean was shot at his front door.
Photo credit: Jeff Montgomery/Harding University/AP
Pictured: Botham Jean Location: Dallas Year: 2018
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RACIAL INJUSTICE
“We Will Remember Ezell Ford” A young, mentally ill, unarmed black man who was shot and killed by police two days after the killing of Mike Brown in South Los Angeles. On August 11, some 1,800 miles from Ferguson, Missouri, the 25-year-old Ford, who was well-known and well-liked in the community, was walking through the tough neighborhood he called home. What’s clear is that two veteran officers caught up to him and Ford was killed. Pictured: Ezell Ford Location: Los Angeles Year: 2015
The officers claimed that they tried to speak to Ford, and that he kept walking and “made suspicious movements,” including attempting to conceal his hands. The LAPD said that when officers grabbed and attempted to stop Ford, he turned and grabbed one of them. During the struggle, they fell to the ground and Ford attempted to remove the officer’s handgun
from its holster. Police said the other officer then fired his handgun and the officer on the ground fired his backup weapon. One person claimed Ford put his hands up and was wrestled to the ground. “I don’t have the exact words, but he threatened to hurt him,” she said. “The next day, Ezell – who everyone in the community, including the cops, knows struggles with mental health issues – unarmed, everyone knows that – walking down the street, two cops tackled him.” She added that witnesses say there was a pause between shots: either two shots, later followed by another, or one followed by two. “Which suggests that the cops, whatever the last or the last two shots, were intending to kill him,” she said.
“How does a traffic stop end up with the police killing an 18-year-old Black kid?” 18-year-old Kenny Watkins was killed by police on August 16, 2016. He died while being taken to a hospital, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. Watkins had just graduated from Bellflower High School and was attending Southwest Community College with dreams of attending Boise State. Watkins was shot during a traffic stop at about 3:30 p.m. on Century Boulevard, east of Figueroa Street, when he emerged from the dark sedan in which he was a passenger, police said. The driver of the sedan that was pulled over drove off after Watkins fleed the vehicle. A Los Angeles police officer testified that he opened fire on an 18-year-old suspect in South Los Angeles in 2016 after the young man pointed one of two guns he was holding toward him. “I straightened my arm and fired two rou-
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nds,” Officer Evan Urias told a Los Angeles Superior Court jury hearing trial of a wrongful death lawsuit filed against him by Prescious Sasser and the estate of her late son, Kenney Watkins. The suit filed in December 2016 maintains that instead of shooting Watkins, Urias should have called for a helicopter and set up a perimeter of backup officers. Urias said he withheld fire when he saw a firearm in Watkins’ left hand, but used deadly force after he saw the second weapon in the suspect’s right hand. He said he fired his weapon from the motorcycle he was riding while Watkins was running down a sidewalk a short distance from the intersection of Figueroa Street and Century Boulevard.
Pictured: Kenny Waktins Location: Los Angeles Year: 2016
RACIAL INJUSTICE
Say his Name: Philando Castile Philando Castile, 32, was shot 4 times on July 6, 2016 by a police officer in suburban St. Paul, Minn., for a traffice stop due to a broken taillight. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, began streaming video live on Facebook immediately after the officer fired. In the stream she said Castile was stopped for a broken taillight, had notified the officer that he was licensed to carry a handgun and was reaching for his wallet at the officer’s request when he was shot. Reynolds said she recorded the video because she wanted the world to see the truth and was afraid police would misrepresent the situation.
Pictured: Philando Castile Location: Minnesota Year: 2016
“I did it so that the world knows that these police are not here to protect and serve us,” she said. “They are here to assassinate us. They are here to kill us because we are black.” The fatal police encounter in Minnesota was the second fatal encounter between police and an African-American man to gain national attention that week.
Earlier that week there was a police shooting in Baton Rouge, La. Where bystanders recorded video as Alton Sterling, 37, was pinned to the ground by two officers before being shot to death.armed, everyone knows that – walking down the street, two cops tackled him.” She added that witnesses say there was a pause between shots: either two shots, later followed by another, or one followed by two. “Which suggests that the cops, whatever the last or the last two shots, After shooting’s aftermath. Reynolds was placed in the car along with her daughter, and Reynolds, still handcuffed, described what happened into her phone. Reynolds’s voice grew increasingly emotional, her anger apparent. “It’s okay, I’m right here with you,” the 4-yearold said to Reynolds. The 4-year-old began crying, and Reynolds tried to console her. Minutes later, Reynolds yelled while having an issue with her phone, and the
4-year-old again tried to console her.
He was UNJUSTLY killed in cold blood by the Sacramento Police Department for the crime of being a young black male. In the late evening of March 18, 2018, Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old African-American man, was shot and killed in Meadowview, Sacramento, California by Terrence Mercadal and Jared Robinet, two officers of the Sacramento Police Department in the backyard of his grandmother's house while he had a phone in his hand. The officers stated that they shot Clark, firing 20 rounds. The two police officers on the scene say they thought Clark was holding a “toolbar/crowbar” when they approached him in his grandparent’s backyard. Police found only a cell phone on him. Stephon Clark was pronounced dead at the scene after cops shot him in a barrage of 20 bullets. Six minutes after the fatal shooting, one officer can be heard telling another, “hey, mute,” referring to his body camera. At that time, both officers apparently muted their body camera microphones for the remainder of the video.
seven times, including three shots to the right side of the back, the pathologist hired by the Clark family stated that Clark was shot eight times, including six times in the back. A grieving community is struggling to understand why Stephon Clark, a young unarmed Black man, was gunned down standing in his grandparent’s backyard. Stephon Clark leaves behind two young sons Cairo and Aiden.
Pictured: Stephon Clark Location: Sacramento Year: 2018
While the Sacramento County Coroner's autopsy report concluded that Clark was shot
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RACIAL INJUSTICE
Killed in his Backyard On December 3, 2019 plain clothes Kansas City Police shot and killed Cameron Lamb, 26, in his back yard. The father of three young boys according to police, was driving a red pick up truck that was chasing a purple mustang through town, well over the speed limit. Officers in a police helicopter followed Lamb and alerted officers on the ground when he backed into a lot behind a house near 41st and College Avenue. Pictured: Cameron Lamb Location: Kansas City Year: 2019
According to police, the shooting happened after an officer went to investigate a disturbance between two vehicles. A police helicopter tracked one of the vehicles as it pulled behind a home on College Avenue. Detectives approached a man in the vehicle and “the officer was put in a position where he had to discharge his firearm,” a police department spokesman previously said. According to court records, DeValkenaere and another detective, Troy Schwalm, were in the area when they responded to radio dispatches regarding a traffic incident.
Lamb had backed his pickup into the garage while DeValkenaere positioned himself on the other side of the house. Prosecutors allege the detectives, who were in plainclothes, did not ask for permission to walk onto the property and did not have a warrant. Schwalm told investigators that as he stood on the driver’s side of the pickup truck, he could see Lamb. Schwalm also said he noticed Lamb’s left hand and Lamb looking at him. Schwalm stated there was no gun in Lamb’s left hand, according to prosecutors. DeValkenaere said he could see both hands from where he was standing, according to the affidavit. He said Lamb’s right hand was on the steering wheel and he saw Lamb slide his left hand down his body, reach into his waistband, pull a gun and point it at Schwalm. DeValkenaere fired, striking Lamb. Medical records show that Lamb is right-handed and he did not have full use of his left hand as a result of an injury sustained in 2015, according to prosecutors.
16 Shots The murder of Laquan McDonald took place on October 20, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois, when the 17-year-old African American was fatally shot by a Chicago Police Officer16 times near 41st Street and Pulaski Road. Police had initially reported that McDonald was behaving erratically while walking down the street, refused to put down a knife he was carrying. Preliminary internal police reports described the incident similarly and ruled the shooting justified and the officer was not charged in the shooting at that time. When a court ordered the police to release a dash cam video of the shooting thirteen months later, on November 24, 2015, it showed McDonald had been walking away from the police when he was shot. That same day, the officer was charged with first-degree murder and initially held without bail at the Cook County Jail. He was released on bail on November 30. The city reached a settlement with McDonald's family. On October 5, 2018, the officer was found guilty of second-degree murder, as well as 16 counts of aggravated bat-
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tery with a firearm. More than four years after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by former Chicago police Officer a judge sentenced the officer to 6 3/4 years of prison, of which he will end up serving less than four.
Pictured: Laquan McDonald Location: Chicago Year: 2014
RACIAL INJUSTICE Does my Hoodie Make me a Threat? Or is it Just my Black Skin? Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was fatally shot in Sanford, Florida by George Zimmerman on February 26, 2012. Martin had gone with his father on a visit to his father's fiancée at her townhouse at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford.
Pictured: Trayvon Martin Location: Flordia Year: 2012
Trayvon went out, walking to a local 7-11 store where he bought Skittles and an Arizona watermelon drink. As Martin was returning from the store to the Twin Lakes neighborhood, George Zimmerman, a volunteer Neighborhood Watch person, spotted Martin, Zimmerman called Sanford police to report Martin, who he said appeared “suspicious”. He is instructed not to get out of his SUV or approach the person. Zimmerman disregards the instructions. There
was an altercation between the two individuals in which Zimmerman shot Martin, killing him. Zimmerman claimed self-defense and was eventually charged in Martin’s death. On June 10, 2013, Zimmerman’s trial began in Sanford and on July 13, a jury acquitted him of second-degree murder and of manslaughter charges. Many believed Zimmerman had profiled Martin as suspicious and threatening simply because the teen was black and in a gated community. President Barack Obama said of the shooting: “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.”
Say his name, Michael Brown! A teenager named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer on August 9, 2014 of that year in the majority-black suburb of St Louis - the fourth unarmed black man to be killed by police in the United States in a month. That day he allegedly stole a pack of cigarillos from a shop, pushing the store clerk into a display case when confronted. Shortly after this incident, police officer Darren Wilson received an alert in his patrol car. Stopping Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson for walking in the middle of the road, the policeman grew suspicious that he had carried out the robbery. Reports say there was an altercation and Officer Wilson fired shots, hitting the unarmed teen a total of six times in the head and right arm. The body layed in the street for four hours in a pool of blood before it was removed. The protests took place amid long-simmering racial tensions; while only 67 percent of residents were African American, they ac-
counted for 90 percent of citations, 93 percent of arrests, 85 percent of car stops, and nearly 90 percent of all documented uses of force. Over the following days the protests quickly spiralled; tear gas and rubber bullets were used to disperse protesters, rumours arose of gunshots fired from the crowd, heavily armoured vehicles were brought in, and a state of emergency was declared. The 6ft 4in teenager was known as Big Mike or Mike Mike. Despite his size, Brown is remembered as a gentle gi ant. Brown was suppose to start college that following Monday instead of celebrating that moment his family had to plan a funeral.
Pictured: Michael Brown Location: St. Louis Year: 2014
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RACIAL INJUSTICE
Unarmed and Killed During a Traffic Stop
Pictured: Michael Dean Location: Temple, TX Year: 2019
Temple Officer was charged with manslaughter after Christine Dean said the cops didn’t tell the family that MiMichael Dean, 28, was shot and killed on Dec. 2, 2019. chael was dead until about 1:30 a.m., which was more than five hours after he was shot. He was pronounced dead at “If my son was in the wrong, so be it,” Christine Dean said 8:26 p.m., shortly after he was shot at around 8:15 p.m. last week. “But why is he dead? He didn’t deserve to be shot “He’s not a criminal. He wasn’t out there comdown. Nobody can give me answers. If he was in the wrong there would [be] a whole story out there, wouldn’t there?” mitting crimes,” his mother said. “They’re Christine Dean said the people who should be giving making it seem like he was a bad person.” her answers, the Temple Police Department, are refraining to do so. “Temple has washed their hands of “I feel like someone messed up. I really do,” Chrisit. We’re told to contact the Texas Rangers,” she said. tine said. “I want to know why my son died on the At the time, Dean’s mother said a police detec- concrete. I’ve never heard of anyone not giving intive initially told her that her son didn’t pull formation about their loved one. If he did something over right away and when he exited the car, he wrong and you had to do it, so be it but tell me.” walked toward the officer, who then shot him. Merritt tweeted on Monday that the killings of Dean “Things just don’t add up. He knows not to get out of and other Black people by police was on a par with a car when he’s pulled over. And people said they saw “genocide.” have full use of his left hand as a result of the police officer pull him out of the car,” she said. an injury sustained in 2015, according to prosecutors. There’s also been talk of a possible coverup by the police.
The Emanuel Nine On June 17, 2015, five clergy and four church members were mercilessly gunned down during Bible study by a 21-year-old white supremacist at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. In the wake of the devastation, the faith of the Emanuel Nine, their families, and the survivors illuminated the way: it would be by the amazing grace of God. Just hours after the massacre, the survivors displayed God’s unyielding love by telling the shooter that they forgave him. The inspiration for the memorial design is drawn from reflecting upon the lives and sacrifices of the Emanuel Nine: Reverend Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Mrs. Cynthia Graham Hurd, Mrs. Susie J. Jackson, Mrs. Ethel Lee Lance, Reverend DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Kibwe Diop Sanders, Reverend Daniel Lee Simmons, Sr., and Mrs. Myra Singleton Quarles Thompson.
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Pictured: The Emanuel Nine Location: Charleston, South Carolina Year: 2015
RACIAL INJUSTICE
I was just outside playing... On November 22, 2014, Tamir Rice was throwing snowballs and playing with a
toy pellet gun in a Cleveland park when a police car rolled into the snowy field. Within two seconds of getting out of his squad car, officer Timothy Loehmann shot and killed the 12-year-old.
Pictured: Tamir Rice Location: Cleveland Year: 2014
According to documents from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department, it’s unclear whether Loehmann shouted any warnings before opening fire. Loehmann claimed that Rice grabbed the pellet gun, which he thought was an actual firearm, forcing him to shoot — a claim that McGinty, the former local prosecutor, said he believed. The person who called Rice into 911 told dispatchers that a “juvenile” is “pulling a gun in and out of his pants and pointing it at people.” The caller later added, “It’s probably fake.” But the 911 dispatcher never told officers that Rice was a kid or that the gun was likely fake. Garmback quickly reported the shooting to dispatch and requested emergency personnel respond to the scene. But the officers, neither of whom reportedly had first aid kits or training, then stood around without applying first aid for about four minutes after Rice was shot. It wasn’t until an FBI agent a trained paramedic walked onto
the scene that Rice received first aid. Rice acknowledged the FBI agent, showing signs of life as the agent tried to tend to the boy’s wounds without any medical tools. “He turned over and acknowledged and looked at me, and he, like, reached for my hand,” the agent said, later adding that Rice said his name and mumbled something about the pellet gun. The video also shows Rice’s sister running to the scene, reportedly to check on her wounded brother. The officers confronted the 14-year-old girl, wrestled her to the ground,and restrained her in the police car. Paramedics arrived a few minutes later. They eventually took Rice to the hospital, where he died on November 23, 2014. The officer who shot Rice was judged unfit for duty by a suburban police department in 2012 Loehmann began working at the Cleveland police department in March 2014, but he previously worked for six months at a small suburban police department in Ohio. Loehmann resigned after a report deemed him unfit for duty, in part because he couldn’t properly handle a firearm. Last year, the city of Cleveland announced it would pay the Rice family $6 million in a lawsuit settlement over the shooting.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE
Fruitvale Station
Oscar Grant III was a 22-year-old man who was killed in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day January 1, 2009 by a BART Police Officer in Oakland, California.
Pictured: Oscar Grant Location: Oakland Year: 2009
Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train returning from San Francisco, BART Police officers detained Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. One of the BART officers kneed Grant in the head and forced the unarmed Grant to lie face down on the platform. While officers held Grant down in a prone position, one officer drew his pistol and shot Grant in the back. Grant was rushed to Highland Hospital in Oakland and pronounced dead later that day. The events were captured on multiple official and private digital video and privately owned cell phone cameras. Owners disseminated their footage to media outlets and to various websites where it went viral. Both peaceful and violent protests took place in the following days. Leading up to the shooting, Grant was on the train and was recognized by his friend Katie, which in turn caused an enemy from a nearby gang to recognize Grant and proceed to fight him. However, some of the other passen-
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gers on the train, along with Grant’s girlfriend Sophina, were able to break up the fight. Shortly afterward, the train conductor announced to the passengers that the police had been contacted and were on their way to the station at which they were stopped. As the passengers began to exit the train, Grant and his girlfriend saw the police walking towards them and split up. As they got closer to the train, police started to pick out people they believed to have been involved in the fight. The officer walked up to two African-American men and ripped the jacket off one. The officer threw three people against the wall and then turned to the train, yelling for everyone involved in the fight to exit the train and come to him. Everyone remained on the train, so the officer walked into the train to see if there was anyone who looked as if they were involved in the fight. The officer saw Grant dressed in an outfit similar to that worn by those who were sitting against the platform wall and therefore removed him. The fatal shooting of Oscar Grant was one of the first police shootings caught on video by bystanders. His death sparked protests and contributed to a national conversation about racism and police violence.
RACIAL INJUSTICE
The Day in June that changed Jasper Forever 7 Shots to the Back
Pictured: Jacob Blake Location: Wisconsin Year: 2020
On August 23, 2020, Jacob Blake was on a Kenosha street lined with apartment buildings. He was “breaking up a fight between two women,” said Benjamin Crump, an attorney hired by the family. Kenosha police arrived, responding to a domestic incident, police said. Raysean White was across the street and said he heard two women arguing when Blake arrived. He said he doesn’t know what started the altercation. White was filming the incident when Blake walked away, toward the driver’s side of his car, and opened the door. In video that’s now been seen millions of times -- more than 9 million views from Crump’s Twitter feed alone -- police are seen closely following Blake and shooting him seven times in the back as he leans into the car. Blake did not have a weapon in his car, said Patrick Salvi Jr., another attorney representing the family. In the vehicle were his three sons, ages 3, 5 and 8, Crump said. CNN has not independently confirmed this. Blake is now in a Milwaukee hospital, where he has remained in intensive care. As of Tuesday afternoon, he was undergoing surgery, Crump said. “It’s going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr. to ever walk again,” he said. Jacob Blake needs 'a miracle' to walk again after Kenosha police shot him, attorney says Jacob Blake needs ‘a miracle’ to walk again after Kenosha police shot him, attorney says Blake suffered multiple injuries, including a gunshot wound to one arm, damage to his kidney, liver and spinal cord, said Salvi Jr.
“He had a bullet go through some or all of his spinal cord, at least one bullet. He has holes in his stomach. He had to have nearly his entire colon and small intestines removed,” Salvi added, saying the family will file a civil lawsuit against the police department over the shooting. Jacob Blake is suffering from paralysis from the waist down, his father, Jacob Sr., told CNN, but he wasn’t sure if the condition is permanent. Blake walks around a gray SUV, opens the driver’s side door of the vehicle and leans inside when an officer grabs the tank top he is wearing and shoots him from behind. Several officers have their weapons drawn. Blake was helping to de-escalate the situation when officers initially used a stun gun on him. The attorney said Mr. Blake was walking away from police to check on his three young sons, who were in the car, when he was shot. Despite being paralyzed, Mr. Blake has been restrained, with his leg attached by handcuffs to his hospital bed. Shot in en times
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Professional Athletes Walk out for Justice Protest sparked across the world of professional sports among althetes after another shooting of an unarmed black man by a police officer. More than 100 NBA employees walked out on August 28, 2020 in solidarity with NBA and WNBA players who are pushing for social justice. The protest came two days after the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to take the floor for Game 5 against the Orlando Magic. New York and New Jersey based NBA staff members across 10 league departments including basketball operations, cybersecurity, finance and marketing planned to spend the day calling state and local officials to "demand justice for Jacob Blake and for the police officers to be held accountable." "We believe the NBA, its leadership, and the Board of Governors unequivocally have the leverage to do more to directly address and combat police brutality and systemic racism in this country," the staff wrote 44
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in a letter to commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum. "We acknowledge and credit all the work the NBA has already done," the letter continued. "But we have the power to have a greater impact. The NBA has not done enough proactively, and rather has relied too heavily on our players. We understand that we are a business, but fears of losing revenue and advertisers should not numb us to the cries of Black men, women and children that continue to be oppressed in the same communities in which we play." Employees will meet for a virtual brainstorming session Friday afternoon, sources said. In the letter to Silver and Tatum, staff wrote that they hope to "formally present" those ideas next week. Silver sent an email to employees on Friday morning, before the staff notified high-ranking NBA officials of their decision to protest. Jacob Blake, another Black man, was shot seven times by police Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Video of the shooting was distributed on social me-
“These countless tragedies are reoccurring” - Max Richardson dia, sparking protests and causing more season altogether to focus on social jusathletes to speak out or take action. tice efforts. George Hill is hardly the biggest star in professional basketball. But he was the one who took the lead when a handful of players on the Milwaukee Bucks began talking about the police shooting of Jacob Blake a few days earlier in Wisconsin. The players, led by Hill, implored their teammates not to play in their playoff game on Wednesday, believing they had a responsibility to make a statement about the how the police treat Black people. What they envisioned a one game, on-thefly protest — instead inspired one of the broadest political statements across sports leagues that the United States had ever seen: walkouts involving hundreds of athletes in professional men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and soccer, as well as one of the world’s biggest tennis stars.
In baseball, at least seven games were postponed. The Mets and Marlins stood on the field at game time for 42 seconds of silence; 42 was the number worn by Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947. The players then retreated to their clubhouses, leaving behind a “Black Lives Matter” T-shirt over home plate. Ron Rivera, the coach of the professional football team in Washington, a franchise with a troubled history on race, said the day would be reserved for “reflection instead” of football. The New York Jets, the Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers were among the teams that also canceled practices. Playoff hockey games that were scheduled for Thursday and Friday were also postponed.
Renee Montgomery, who plays for the W.N.B.A.’s Atlanta Dream, skipped the WWW.THEAVIDMAGAZINE.COM
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By Ashley M. Martin
Surviving 2020: Stewardship of Your Mind, Body, & Soul “Make it make sense.” If I had a deposit for every time I saw this phrase written or heard it, my graduate loans would probably be paid off by now. 2020 has been a year that many never anticipated. From a super athlete’s death, a global pandemic, human injustice, civil unrest, and what seems to be the beginning of much-anticipated change, 2020 came here with a wake-upcall.
should treat it as if it is one of your favorite places to go. You live there. Who doesn’t want where they live 24/7 to be in top condition? What practices do you have in place that support you thriving and maintaining a good quality of life? Reflect on your food & nutrition. Is it enabling a condition you want to be healed of? Are you on track with living a healthy lifestyle?
How have you made sense of everything that has happened this year? What have you learned this year about yourself and others? 2020 has shed light on three key areas that I believe deser ve attention this year and beyond. Your mind, body, and soul matters. If you have not evaluated these areas in a long time, I encourage you to do so now and in the future.
You also want to consider the quality of rest you have. Contrary to what some say, sleep is not for suckers. Your rest matters and quality rest trumps all the rest. Take a minute to evaluate how you are sleeping and what your environment is like. Is it conducive to the best rest for you? Make the necessary adjustments and watch what happens for you.
Your Mind They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste. We don’t always realize that the thoughts we think play out in our lives in a big way. Our thoughts influence many things and are influenced by many things. Without a doubt, our thoughts influence your actions. Our actions determine your destiny.
Your Soul Your soul is the seat of your mind, will, and emotions. Some may say it is the essence of who you are. Your soul is impacted by different things - life’s experiences, things you have been predisposed to, and just everyday living. Just like I would imagine you desire a healthy thought life and healthy body, I believe you’d agree that having a healthy soul is best. This can start with prayer and checking the state of your emotions. Going the extra mile to correct anything that does not align to your best and highest self may be in your best interest. Having peace of mind and emotions is priceless.
As you examine your thought life, it is vital to think about how you’re thinking. In some spaces, this is called metacognition. When you begin to ask yourself, why did I have this thought towards this person? Why do I think this way about this group of people? Why do I have this mindset towards this area of life? Thinking about your thinking often lends itself to discoveries and where course correction can take place. You can replace negative thoughts that do not serve you well with positive ones. In some cases, you can begin the journey of healing thoughts that have held you back. Consider what you are taking in. How is what you are watching, listening to, or engaging in influencing the way you think? What should you maintain? Where is there room for improvement? Your Body How would you rate your health? Your body is a temple. You
Your mind, body, and soul matters and should matter to you first. Don’t let 2020 pass by without some positive changes taking place in your life. When we look back on this history-changing year, what will you have realized? What will you have maintained? What will you have changed? You are worthy. Mirror Miracles are positive affirmation decals that remind you of who you are. Visit Https://www.etsy.com/shop/blue brillante Interested in contacting the writer? Visit www.iamashleym. com or email info@iamashleym.com.
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AMENDM
All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the Un privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; NOR SHALL ANY STATE DEPRIVE ANY PERSON OF ITS JURISDICTION THE EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS.
I was Shot in the Back of the Head On April 29, 2017, Jordan Edwards, a 15-year-old African American boy, was fatally shot by police officer Roy Oliver in Balch Springs, Texas, within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. He was shot in the back of the head while riding in the front passenger's seat of a vehicle driving away from officers that attempted to stop it. He was unarmed during the encounter. According to initial reports, the officers were responding around 11:00 p.m. to a 911 call “reporting several underage kids drunk walking around” at a party of approximately 100 people. Upon arrival, the officers allegedly heard gunshots, which created panic and caused party-goers to flee. Officer Roy Oliver fired three rifle rounds into a vehicle, striking Edwards in the head and killing him. Oliver was reportedly armed with a Modern Carbine MC5 rifle. Along with Edwards, the car contained two of Edwards’s brothers and two friends. Edwards’s 16-year-old brother was driving the car. He was a freshamn student at Mesquite High School where he played football. 48
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I was Just Looking for Help On September 14, 2013, Jonathan Ferrell (born 1988/1989), a 24-year-old former college football player for the Florida A&M University Rattlers, was shot and killed by police officer Randall "Wes" Kerrick in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ferrell, an African American, was unarmed at the time he was shot. While giving a co-worker a lift home on the night of September 14, 2013 he crashed his car, went to a house in the Bradfield Farms neighborhood and knocked on the door. The resident, Sarah McCartney, called the police and three officers came. Ferrell then ran towards them, whereupon one of the officers fired a taser at Ferrell and missed. Kerrick then opened fire on Ferrell, shooting him twelve times and killing him.
I Just had a BB Gun Durham police officers fired twelve shots at La’Vante Biggs on the morning of September 15, 2015. Five entered his body. Biggs, twenty-one, died on the front lawn of his home in east Durham. The incident had several hallmarks of a suicide-by-cop. Biggs had called the police to the house. When they arrived, he was holding a gun to his head and threatening to kill himself. His mother, Shanika, was in the yard, pleading with him to put it down. Officers negotiated with Biggs for about thirty minutes. Then, according to a Durham Police Department report, Biggs “aggressively took steps” toward one of the officers on the scene, at which point four different officers discharged their weapons, killing him. Only later did officers discover that Biggs hadn’t been holding a real gun, but rather an Airsoft BB gun.
“NOR SHALL ANY STATE DEPRIVE A PROPERTY, WITHOUT DUE PROCESS SON WITHIN ITS JURISDICTION THE E
MENT XIV
nited States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the F LIFE, LIBERTY, OR PROPERTY, WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OF LAW; NOR DENY TO ANY PERSON WITHIN
I was Mentally Ill
I Got Pulled Over for a Break Light
Something just Wasn’t Right
32-year-old Michael Noel was killed on December 21, 2015 during a struggle inside his family’s home in St. Martinville. A police report of the incident states that he resisted deputies’ efforts to take him into protective custody and drive him to a hospital.
On April 4, 2015, Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed in North Charleston, South Carolina by Michael Slager, a white North Charleston police officer. Slager had stopped Scott for a non-functioning brake light.
The shooting death of Christian Taylor, a 19-year-old college student, by Arlington, Texas police officer Brad Miller at a car dealership in the city
The day of the shooting marked the fourth time in less than eight months that Barbara Noel had obtained an order for deputies to take her son into protective custody so he could get treatment. The orders say he had been suicidal, hallucinating, hearing voices and talking to imaginary people.
At 9:30 a.m., in the parking lot of an auto parts store, Scott was driving a 1991 Mercedes and was headed to the auto parts store when he was stopped. The race difference led many to believe that the shooting was racially motivated, generating a widespread controversy.
St. Martin Parish sheriff’s deputy shot Michael Noel in the chest after he resisted restraint and powered through two shocks from a stun gun. Noel was unarmed with one handcuff around one wrist when he died near the doorway. He was known as friendly and respectful.
ANY PERSON OF LIFE, LIBERTY, OR S OF LAW; NOR DENY TO ANY PEREQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS.”
On August 7, 2015, surveillance videos at an Arlington car dealership showed Christian Taylor, a 19-year-old college student at Angelo State University pulling up at the front of the dealership around 1:00 a.m. Taylor began wandering around the dealership parking lot before smashing the windows of several vehicles. A security guard then called the 911 and six Arlington police arrived at the scene. There they discovered that Taylor had driven his car through the dealership’s window and entered its showroom on foot. While five officers remained outside of the showroom, anticipating that they could capture Taylor without incident, a rookie police officer still on probation and without previous policing experience pursued Taylor inside the dealership on his own. The officer claimed that Taylor refused to comply with officer’s orders and began to actively advance toward the officer. The officer shot Taylor, who was about seven feet away. As Taylor continued to approach Miller, the officer shot him again three times, killing him. Taylor was a sophomore who played defensive back for the Angelo State Rams Football team.
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I was Gunned down in the middle of a mall
I Suffered from a Mental Disorder
They Shot Me in my Back
30 year old Grechario Mack was gunned down on April 10, 2018 in the middle of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza located in Los Angles.
LAPD officers killed Redel Jones, a 30-year-old woman who had a kitchen knife and was fleeing police in a alley located in Baldwin Hills on August 12, 2015.
On April 11, 2018, police shot and killed 25 year old Kenneth Ross, in a park just one day after another killing about 10 miles away.
The LAPD’s report said Mack appeared to be having a “mental health crisis” and was “aggressively waving a long knife”. Police alleged he ignored commands and “ran in the direction” of patrons, leading to the shooting. Two officers fired at him, according to one report. Mall employees stated that Mack had been talking to himself and seemed unwell, but was not attacking anyone. One employee of a nearby store, stated that she walked within 10ft of Mack, who did not scare her: “He was just standing there … It wasn’t such a big knife.” Blurry videos from witnesses captured heavily armed officers surrounding Mack and firing a handful of loud shots. Screams echoed throughout the mall as shoppers ducked for cover and ran. When investigators arrived, he was surrounded by shattered glass. The county’s autopsy said Mack suffered at least five gunshot wounds, including one in his back just below his head. Mack had been released from prison on 5 April, five days before the killing, and the family had gathered for a “welcome home” party. Mack had mental health struggles and past run-ins with the law, and, according to his parents, he was on new medication that was negatively affecting him. He might have been paranoid or anxious and holding the knife to feel safe.
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Jones, who had struggled on and off with homelessness, allegelly entered Stocker Pharmacy on Santa Rosalia Drive and gave the cashier a note demanding cash. According to the District Attorney’s memo, the note said, “I have a gun. Give me all the money in the register.” Jones reportedly pointed a knife at the cashier and managed to take off with approximately $80. Two police officers responded to the scene and spoke with the cashier. Officer Ramirez and his partner saw Jones and trailed her as she walked along an alley. The officers reportedly demanded her to stop, but Jones kept walking. At that point, the officers parked their car, got out and went after the woman on foot. According to the memo, that’s when Jones pulled out the knife. “She’s got a knife in hand! She’s running!” Ramirez shouted into his radio. Officers repeatedly commanded Jones to stop and drop her weapon as they chased her down the alley. At one point, the memo stated that Jones took steps toward the officer and “charged” at him with the knife. Ramirez fired five rounds at Jones. Ramirez’ partner also fired his Taser but missed. Paramedics were called and arrived at the scene. Jones was pronounced dead.
Police have provided few details about the killing in the LA suburb of Gardena. Lt Steve Prendergast stated that the officers were responding to calls of shots fired and ended up chasing Ross, whom they considered a suspect and was “running away from the scene”. Prendergast said there was a “gun found at the scene”, but he couldn’t say whether Ross owned it or had pointed it. One police report said Ross briefly hid in a bathroom and that police shot him with an AR-15 rifle after he exited. That report said the gun had been in his pocket. The county’s official autopsy said he was shot multiple times, including in the back. Almarou said her son, who leaves behind seven younger siblings and a four-year-old son, had bipolar disorder and schizophreniabut was well known to local residents as harmless. “Why did they shoot him in the back?” she said. “Your aim was to murder my child.” where law enforcement killings of black mentally ill residents are so normalized, families struggle to be heard. They face an uphill battle in the most secretive state in the US for police misconduct, in a region where officers who shoot are never prosecuted. “Mentally, I can’t even do nothing right now,” said Fouzia Almarou, Ross’s mother. “But I’m gonna stay strong … I want to make sure my son is remembered.”
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I was just breaking up a fight On November 15, 2015, Jamar Clark, a 24-year-old African-American man, was shot by Minneapolis Police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Two police officers, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, were involved in the shooting. The night after the shooting, Clark died at the Hennepin County Medical Center after being taken off life support. Jamar Clark was attending the birthday party of Nekelia Sharp, who was hosting the event at her apartment in Minneapolis. Sharp and her husband engaged in a dispute and Clark’s girlfriend grabbed Sharp, after which Sharp and Clark’s girlfriend fought. Clark stepped in to pull his girlfriend away and, according to Sharp, Clark’s girlfriend hit him. Someone called for help and paramedics were called. Sharp let them into her apartment and they escorted Clark’s girlfriend to the ambulance, which Clark approached after she had entered it. An onlooker reported that both the paramedics and police who had arrived at the scene asked Clark to step away from the ambulance and that police then stepped from their car, arrested Clark on the ground, and the EMS supervisor placed a knee on Clark’s chest, after which point he was shot. Of 20 witnesses, he said, two said Clark was not handcuffed, six said they were uncertain and 12 said he was handcuffed.
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Woman shot to death by Torrance Police On October 31, 2016, family members believe, the 39-year-old Michelle Lee Shirley was unable to escape the grip of her mental illness again. Several people called police to report an “erratic and reckless” motorist driving through Torrance. When cops found her, Shirley was still driving her car even though its side air bags had deployed and there was recent collision damage. When police cornered her, she backed into one patrol car and then accelerated head on into another cruiser, according to a police statement and videos taken by onlookers at the scene. Officers fired many gunshots at the car as it lurched at them near the Chevron gas station at Sepulveda Boulevard and Cabrillo Avenue. Bipolar disorder derailed her life as she was raising her young son and studying for the bar exam about a decade ago. Since then, she struggled to manage the disease while pursuing her goals. The family learned of her death when a television news reporter called their home Monday night before police had officially confirmed her identity.
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Another Black Man Gunned Down Dreasjon “Sean” Reed, 21, was the man who was fatally shot by Indianapolis police on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Reed, 21, was fatally shot near 62nd Street and Michigan Road following a police pursuit that was broadcast live on facebook. After exiting his car, Reed began to flee on foot, and at some point, they say Reed fired a weapon. As he ran, an officer first attempted to tase him, police say, but the taser failed to stop Reed. An officer then shot Reed. If you have any information on this incident please step forward by calling the Homicide Office at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 317262-TIPS. Because this is an ongoing criminal investigation, it will be the responsibility of the special prosecutor to release more information in theis ongoing investigation. Reed’s mother cried out that her son’s eyes had been shot out and sewn shut. Large, gaping wounds were still present. His teeth, she said, were the only thing recognizable. The wounds, she said, undermine the account of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department that her 21-year-old son was fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire. The body she was able to view, she said, told her otherwise. “They couldn’t fix his face. They tried,” Wynn said. “To shoot somebody point blank, that’s how that damage happens. I’ve been a nurse long enough. I’ve seen damage to people’s bodies.”
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5 Times through the Window Anthony Lamar Smith was a 24-year-old man from St. Louis, Missouri, who was shot and killed by then St. Louis Police officer Jason Stockley following a car chase on December 20, 2011. Police officer Stockley and his partner have stated they saw Smith engaged in a drug deal. Stockley was recorded during the chase as saying “going to kill this motherfucker, don’t you know it”. After the car was stopped, Stockley and his partner, Brian Bianchi, approached Smith’s vehicle at West Florissant and Acme Avenues in north St. Louis. Stockley testified that Smith did not comply but rather appeared to be reaching around the interior of his vehicle in search of something which Stockley believed to be a gun. Stockley then opened fire through the window and shot five times, killing Smith.
Unarmed and Killed On September 16, 2016, Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old, was shot and killed by police officer Betty Jo Shelby in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was unarmed during the encounter, in which he was standing near his vehicle in the middle of a street. At 7:36 p.m. on September 16, 2016, police received a 9-1-1 call about an abandoned vehicle in the middle of 36th Street North just west of Lewis Avenue. Police stated that Crutcher kept reaching into his pocket, refused to show his hands, walked towards his vehicle despite being told to stop, and then angled towards and reached into his vehicle. Critics have disputed this saying that the driver’s side window was up when Crutcher was shot. Turnbough tased Crutcher, and Shelby shot him. Shortly before the shooting, officers in the helicopter conversed with each other: “This guy’s still walking and isn’t following commands.” “It’s time for a taser, I think.” “I’ve got a feeling that’s about to happen.” “That looks like a bad dude, too, could be on something.” Approximately two minutes after the shot, an officer checked Crutcher’s pockets, and approximately 45 seconds later, someone crouched to offer aid. Police said Crutcher died in the hospital later that day. Tulsa police chief Chuck Jordan said no weapon was recovered from Crutcher’s body or vehicle.
Unarmed Black Driver Killed in a Road-Rage Incident 37-year-old Delrawn Small was shot and killed by NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs on July 4, 2016 in East New York, Brooklyn. The killing occurred just one day before Alton Sterling was killed by police in Louisiana and two days prior to Philando Castile being killed by police in Minnesota. The off duty officer Isaacs shot and killed Small in front of his four-month-old son and girlfriend after Isaacs allegedly cut in front of Small’s car minutes earlier. Small got out at the stoplight and approached Issacs vehicle reportedly cursing at Isaacs for endangering his family. ‘Initial accounts from Isaacs and the NYPD claimed that the officer was being physically assaulted when he fired his weapon, but nearby surveillance video, released days after these accounts saturated media coverage of the killing, discredited such accounts. The footage showed that Isaacs fired his gun immediately, before there was any contact between the two men. Isaacs also never sought to check on Delrawn’s health and well-being after firing his weapon or provide any emergency assistance. Isaacs has claimed that he was violently pummeled in the face before pumping three bullets into Delrawn Small, 37, at a traffic light at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Bradford Street. Officer Wayne Isaacs told detectives and a 911 operator on July 4, 2016, that he shot Delrawn Small three times after he was punched in the face while at a red light on the corner of Atlantic Ave. and Bradford St. in East New York.
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Fourteen Steps Below
Welfare Check Turned Deadly
Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old man, was fatally shot on November 20, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, by a New York City Police Department officer.
Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, a 28-year-old woman, was fatally shot in her home while babysitting her nephew by a police officer in Fort Worth, Texas.
Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old man, was fatally shot on November 20, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, by a New York City Police Department officer. Two police officers, patrolling stairwells in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)’s Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York, Brooklyn, entered a pitch-dark, unlit stairwell, one of them, Officer Peter Liang, 27, with his firearm drawn. Gurley and his girlfriend entered the seventh-floor stairwell, fourteen steps below them. Liang fired his weapon; his shot ricocheted off a wall and fatally struck Gurley in the chest. A jury convicted Liang of manslaughter, which a court later reduced to criminally negligent homicide.
On the morning of October 12, 2019 police arrived at her home after a neighbor called a non-emergency number, concerned when they noticed the front door of a home, which belonged to Jefferson’s mother, was left ajar and requested a welfare check. The bodycam video released publicly showed the perspective of an officer outside the home, peering into a window using a flashlight and spotting someone inside standing near a window and telling her, “Put your hands up show me your hands.” A single shot is fired seconds later. Dean failed to identify himself before firing his weapon, striking Jefferson. Jefferson was a Pre-Med Graduate Student.
A Parking Spot Dispute In Vallejo, California on November 10, 2019, an incident in a busy strip mall occurred between Eric Reason and a off-duty police officer. In a released video, which has no audio, Officer Thomas appears to drive toward an empty parking spot just as Reason pulls away from a nearby gas station pump. After Thomas parks, Reason stops his van several feet behind and steps out. They get in each other's faces for a few seconds, the video shows. Reason then walks away and appears to grab an object from the hood of his van. He walks back to Officer Thomas with the object in his Hand. He turns to walk away then the officerpulls out a weapon and fires, appearing to shoot out a back window of Reason's car. At that moment, Reason runs away ducking and Thomas continues fire at him and follow him in the parking lot, even advancing closer to Reason once he is laying on the ground.
ice everywhere.” - martin luther king jr. WWW.THEAVIDMAGAZINE.COM
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I Just Wanted to Get out of the Garage On July 11, 2015 35-year-old George Mann died while in the custody of Gwinnett County Police. The investigation was immediately turned over to the GBI; the day after Mann's death, the agency said in an initial statement that Mann became unresponsive soon after being drive stunned with a Taser, and later died. Officers responded to a home on Rock Place Drive after a 911 call that Mann had been acting strangely. In the descriptive two-page narrative, the officer describes Mann yelling from inside of a neighbor’s closed garage, shouting “let me out of here” and “I’ll shoot all of you.” The report continues: “after George was handcuffed, we sat him up and moved him outside to the driveway. When we moved George to the driveway he stopped flailing and was not responsive.” But the report does not detail how Mann went unresponsive. The GBI’s initial statement was released the day after Mann’s death: there was an altercation when officers made contact with Mann and he was “drive stunned with the Taser when he resisted officers.”
I was Shot 17 Times
I was Shot 12 Times
According to officials at the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, deputies went to Demetrius Williams’ home at 604 S. Allen St., at 11:09 a.m. December 5, 2019 to execute a narcotics search warrant to search the home.
Calin Devonte Roquemore, a 23-year-old from East Texas, did not stop when a white trooper tried to pull him over for speeding on Texas 149, a two-lane country road, two hours after sunset on February 13, 2016.
Williams was being investigated and things went awry when Williams allegedly attempted to flee the scene and hit a deputy in the process.
Instead, Roquemore sped through a maze of streets to a trailer park, jumped out of his Chevrolet Impala and ran. The trooper from the Texas Department of Public Safety gave chase, drew his gun and repeatedly hollered at Roquemore to stop and put his hands up, according to a recording from the trooper’s dashcam and body-worn microphone.
Williams was shot at 32 times and was hit 17 times. His oldest daughter had just turned 8 the day he died and the family plannedto celebrate his daughter’s birthday at Chuck E. Cheese that evening. Williams was a family man that had dreams of providing a better life. He was working on completing his welding degree at Texas State Technical College in Marshall and planning to view a new home for them on Friday.
The officer shot Roquemore seven times, including five times in the back. Roquemore was unarmed at the times of the shooting. As he lie wounded and awaiting an ambulance, Roquemore told the trooper he ran because he was afraid, adding, “I didn’t think you were going to shoot.” He died hours later in the hospital.
“The fact that the GBI says, wait a minute, there was a taser, and now we have the incident report from Gwinnett Police that says there was no taser -- it’s inconsistent and the family wants answers,” Hoopes said.
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I was Just Standing There Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot on September 20, 2016, in Charlotte, North Carolina by a city police officer. The husband and father of seven had previously suffered brain damage in an accident and had difficulty communicating. The shooting incident occurred before 4:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the Village at College Downs apartment complex, near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The oficers were preparing to serve an arrest warrant in an unrelated case when a white SUV pulled up and parked beside them, driven by a man later identified as Scott. The officers observed Scott rolling what they believed to be a marijuana “blunt”, but they decided that the warrant operation had higher priority than the drug activity. Officers stated that they saw Scott exit a vehicle in the parking lot of his apartment complex while carrying a handgun, and refuse to comply with their orders to drop it. An officer fatally shot Scott while Scott was facing away with his hands at his sides. The officer was in plainclothes, wearing a police vest but not a body-worn camera. Three other officers on the scene were in uniform and wearing cameras.
I was Mentally Ill The Baytown police officer who fatally shot a woman during a confrontation at her apartment complex. The officer, shot 44-year-old Pamela Turner while attempting to arrest her on open warrants. He fired five shots. The fatal incident was recorded on social media and went viral, with some commentators questioning why the incident ended in Turner’s death. In the video, Turner is heard saying, “You’re actually harassing me.” She is on the ground and appears to reach toward the officer before he fires five shots.
Another Black Man Gunned Down Yassin Mohamed, 47, was shot and killed on May 9, 2020 by an Evans County sheriff's deputy near the rural town of Claxton, Georgia. According to police reports, Mohamed was throwing rocks at the deputies during the incident that led to his death. He had had several encounters with law enforcement agencies in the 24 hours prior to that incident. These included run-ins with the Glennville police department, the Claxton police department, and emergency medical services. Mohamed was detained by law enforcement and taken to hospital, where he refused treatment. During another instance, Mohamed attacked a police officer and ambulance with a plastic pipe. During one of those encounters, Mohamed was taken to hospital. Mohamed began throwing rocks at law enforcement, hitting one of the deputies once and “charging” him with a “larger rock”, causing the deputy to fire his weapon, the GBI said. Mohamed died before being taken to hospital. The deputy was not seriously injured.
y the same injustice that enslaved it.” WWW.THEAVIDMAGAZINE.COM
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I was Asleep in a Car at a Drive-thru On the night of June 12, 2020, Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old African American man, was fatally shot by an Atlanta Police Department (APD) officer. A Fellow officer had responded to a complaint that Brooks was asleep in a car blocking a Wendy’s drive-through lane; The second officer arrived after the first officer on scene radioed for assistance some minutes later. After a breathalyzer exam indicated that Brooks's blood-alcohol content was above the legal limit for driving, the officers began to handcuff Brooks. Brooks scuffled with the officers, got hold of one of the officer's taser, punched the other officer, and ran. With the officer pursuing him, Brooks half-turned and fired the taser toward the officer, who then shot Brooks twice from behind while a third shot struck an occupied car. Brooks died after surgery.
I was Shot at Walmart
“I Don’t Want to Die”
The shooting of John Crawford III occurred on August 5, 2014. Crawford was a 22-year-old African-American man shot and killed by a police officer in a Walmart store in Beavercreek, Ohio, near Dayton, while he was holding a BB gun that was for sale in the store.
On June 14, 2012, Shantel Davis, a 23-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot by New York City, New York Police Department. Davis was accused of ran several red lights and crashed the allegedly stolen car she was driving at an intersection in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn. Two officers saw Davis driving erratically and pursued her vehicle. After colliding with a minivan, the officers got out of their car and approached Davis on foot.
By 8:18 Crawford picked up an unpackaged BB/pellet air rifle inside the store’s sporting goods section and continued shopping in the store. Another customer, Ronald Ritchie, called 9-1-1 claiming that Crawford had been pointing the gun at fellow customers. Security camera footage showed that Crawford was talking on his cellphone and holding the BB gun as he shopped, but at no point did he aim the BB gun at anyone. After the security camera footage was released, Ritchie recanted his statement that led to the fatal shooting and stated, “At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody”, while maintaining that Crawford was “waving it around”.
Davis opened her passenger side door, knocking one officer to the ground. She then got back into the driver’s seat. Believing that Davis was trying to drive away, and with the car moving backwards, Detective Phil Atkins reached into her car and tried to shift it into park. While they struggled for control, Atkins shot her once in the chest. Davis cried out that she didn’t want to die despite paramedics’ attempts to revive her, Davis was later pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital.
Two officers of the Beavercreek Police arrived at the Walmart shortly after their dispatcher informed them of a “subject with a gun” in the pet supplies area of the store. Sean Williams, had shot him by 8:27. Crawford was later pronounced dead at Dayton’s Miami Valley Hospital.
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I was Shot because I was Sleeping in a Car On February 9, 2019, Willie McCoy was found unconscious at the drive-thru of a Vallejo, California Taco Bell. A Taco Bell employee called 911, informing the dispatcher that McCoy was unresponsive to people knocking on the car's window or honking their car horns. Six police officers arrived, and activated their bodycams. The bodycam video and audio, showed that, for several minutes, officers with guns raised conversed next to McCoy's car while he was unconscious. The footage captured an officer saying that McCoy had on his lap a gun with its magazine "half out" such that McCoy would have at most one shot available; although the gun is not visible in the footage. The footage shows that the officers then decided to open the door to retrieve the alleged gun and remove McCoy from the car, but found the door locked and so instead attempted to block McCoy's car in the drive-thru. After some minutes, McCoy scratched his shoulder, though there is no indication he was alert or aware of his surroundings at this time.
I was Shot 14 Times On April 30, 2014, Dontre Hamilton, 31 years old was shot and killed by police officer Christoper Manney, at Red Arrow Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Hamilton had a history of mental illness. The officer shot Hamilton fourteen times, killing him. Before the encounter, a pair of officers responding to a call that Hamilton was asleep in the park checked on him twice and found he was doing nothing wrong. When Manney arrived, he was not aware that other officers had preceded him As Manney began to pat down Hamilton, Hamilton fought him, and a confrontation ensued. Manney tried to use his baton to subdue Hamilton, but Hamilton got control of it and swung at Manney, hitting him on the side of the neck, according to Milwaukee police internal affairs. No additional weapons were found on Hamilton’s person.
Shot while riding his bike without a light Ronell Foster, a 33-year-old father who police say was riding his bike without a light. The disturbing footage of McMahon shooting Foster, a 33-year-old father who police said was riding his bike without a light, has sparked renewed outrage about the northern California police department and its troubled history of deadly force. On 13 February 2018, McMahon “saw Ronell Foster riding a bicycle at night with no headlamp while weaving in and out of traffic” The officer then tried to conduct a “traffic stop” for “vehicle code violations”, at which point Foster continued riding his bike away from the officer. McMahon shot Foster in the back and back of the head
McCoy then moved in a manner that was interpreted by the Vallejo Police Department as "hand reaches to gun on lap". McCoy then jerks up and appears to reach down. His face is obscured by the officer's arm, pointing his gun." The footage showed that Mr. McCoy appeared to be asleep for at least several minutes, and that he was shot about 10 seconds after he began to move. It was unclear whether he was reaching for a gun. Officers then yelled at McCoy, through the closed car window, to put his hands up, and fired at him less than three seconds later. The six officers fired 55 rounds at McCoy over approximately four seconds, before again telling McCoy to put up his hands. McCoy was pronounced dead at the scene.
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I was Shot in the Back of the Head An African-American woman named Dominique Clayton, 32 was killed in her Oxford, Mississippi home on Sunday, May 19, 2019. She was shot early that morning, in the back of the head while she slept. Her eight year old son, found her body later that night. It took the city of Oxford two days to arrest Matthew Kinne, a white Oxford police officer, and charge him with the murder after he broke into her home prior to the murder. The two were said to be involved in a romantic relationship
I was Riding a Bike Family members on Wednesday mourned the loss of a father of five and a beloved newspaper pressman who died while in police custody after deputies used a Taser stun gun on him. Dante Parker, 36, was suspected of trying to break into a home in the 13000 block of Bucknell Court in Victorville on Tuesday afternoon when he was shocked with a Taser by deputies during a struggle to take him into custody, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. Sheriff’s deputies found Parker riding a bicycle away from the residence and tried to stop him, but he appeared to be under the influence of unknown substances and became “uncooperative and combative,” officials said. Parker allegedly fought with a female deputy and left bruises on her arms. The deputy used a Taser on Parker “multiple times” during a struggle, officials said. A second deputy helped handcuff Parker and place him in the backseat of a patrol unit, when they saw that he was sweating and breathing heavily, authorities said. Parker died at a hospital, two days before his 37th birthday.
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I was Shot in the Back of the Head Rekia Boyd, a 22-year-old woman, was fatally shot on March 21, 2012, in Chicago, Illinois, by an off-duty Chicago police detective. The off-duty police officer, drove his car to Douglas Park on the West Side of Chicago after calling the police to make a noise complaint. He then approached a group of four individuals who had been partying in the park and had some form of verbal altercation with them. The officer then fired on the group, hitting Rekia Boyd in the head, and Antonio Cross in the hand. Initially the Chicago police department claimed that the officer had discharged his weapon after Cross had approached him with a gun. The Boyd family quickly responded that the object was in fact a cell phone and no weapon was ever recovered from the scene.
I was a Pregnant Bystnader
I was Mentally Ill
Alteria Woods, a 21-year-old pregnant woman was killed on March 19, 2017 during morning shootout amid a SWAT raid at a Florida home.
On August 14, 2014, a Phoenix police sergeant shot and killed a 50-year-old mentally ill woman named Michelle Cusseaux.
The deputies executed a search warrant for the home in search of Wood’s boyfriend Andrew Coffee IV.
She was at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, fixing her door when a police officer, came to execute a “pickup order” to bring her to a mental health treatment facility. When officers arrived at her home, Michelle spoke with them through the door and refused to leave her home or consent to their entry. She said she did not trust them, and believed they would shoot her.
Police were targeting Woods’ boyfriend and his father during the raid that left Woods dead and a deputy wounded. The police stated that Woods was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.
The officer instructed another officer to pick the exterior locked door of Michelle’s residence.” When they entered, the officer saw Michelle standing near the door holding a hammer, interpreted it to be a weapon, and shot her. He later said that something about the look on her face with her eyes wide open, mouth wide open. She had that anger in her face that she was going to hit someone with that hammer caused him to fear for his safety.
I was just trying to Do The Right Thing The tragic incident happened after Alesia, who suffered from bipolar, schizophrenia and drug addiction, attempted to place her children into police custody because she felt she could no longer care for them properly. On July 22, 2012 Alesia dropped her two children, a 3-year old and 12-year old, off at a local police station saying she was struggling to support her family. Three police officers then tracked Alesia down to her home, where they were to arrest her for child endangerment, but she would later die at their hands. According to the LAPD’s official account, after questioning her briefly, officers attempted to take Alesia into custody and claim that she started “violently resisting arrest”. One of the officers swept Alesia’s legs from beneath her to take her to the ground and two others handcuffed her hands behind her back and attempted to lead her to a patrol car.
“Rage — whether in reaction to social injustice, or to our leaders’ insanity, or to those who threaten or harm us — is a powerful energy that, with diligent practice, can be transformed into fierce compassion.” - Bonnie Myotai Treace WWW.THEAVIDMAGAZINE.COM
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I was Mentally Ill Tanisha Anderson's family called the police to help her during a mental-health episode at a family member's home. Anderson had left the Windsor Laurelwood Center for Behavioral Medicine in Willoughby 12 days earlier. It was her second trip to the mental-health facility in as many months. Her brother called police about 8:15 p.m. and told dispatchers the family needed help because she was "belligerent, and family members were afraid. Two officers arrived and determined that the situation had calmed down. They left by 10 p.m. Another family member called police about 45 minutes later and said that she was turning on lights and trying to leave the house wearing only a nightgown. The officers and family convinced Anderson to go to the hospital. The officers walked her outside, and she sat in their cruiser with her feet still on the ground. A scuffle ensued and she ended up handcuffed and on the ground. The officers said Anderson went on the ground on her own and kicked at them while she was on her back, according to the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s investigative file. Family members told investigators that the officers slammed her on the ground. It is also disputed as to how long she was on her back and when she was turned over on her stomach, still in handcuffs. The officers requested an ambulance at 11:34 p.m. The ambulance arrived seven minutes later and took Anderson to the Cleveland Clinic, where she was pronounced dead.
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A Deadly Domestic Dispute Meagan Hockaday, 26 was shot and killed in the early hours of Saturday, March 28, 2015. The resident of Oxnard, California was shot and killed by a police officer who responded to a 911 call made by Hockaday’s fiancé, Luis Morado, reporting a domestic dispute at The Timbers, an apartment complex in Oxnard. Within twenty seconds of arriving at the family’s apartment, Hockaday apparently advanced at the officers with a knife that resulted in the officer fatally shooting Hockaday. The couple’s three children were in the apartment at the time. They were subsequently evaluated by Child Protective Services and released to family.
Another Black Man Gunned Down Trayford Pellerin was shot and killed on August 21, 2020 by Lafayette police officers who were responding to a disturbance involving a person armed with a knife. Lafayette police were called at about 8 p.m. on Aug. 21 to a disturbance involving a person armed with a knife at the Circle K gas station on Northeast Evangeline Thruway near the intersection of Castille Avenue, said Louisiana State Police spokesman Trooper Derek Senegal the night of the shooting. When officers arrived, they found Pellerin in the parking lot of the gas station. Officers tried to apprehend Pellerin, but he left the scene, Senegal said. Officers pursued Pellerin, who walked about half a mile to the Shell gas station on Northeast Evangeline Thruway at the intersection of Chalmette Drive. Officers tried tasering Pellerin, but it appeared to have no effect as he kept walking away from them. At the Shell station, Pellerin attempted to enter the store. Officers said Pellerin had a knife. Police shot him in front of the door to the Shell station. Pellerin was taken to a local hospital where he later died.
“Our freedoms are vanishing. If you do not get active to take a stand now against all that is wrong while we still can.” - Suzy Kassem
A Loud Music Disturbance A police officer who was feeling threatened used lethal force on Rumain Brisbon, an unarmed black man. The incident left the officer unharmed and Brisbon, 34, dead with two bullet wounds in his torso at a north Phoenix apartment complex. A resident of an apartment complex told them that men inside a black Cadillac SUV were engaged in a drug deal. Police checked the license plate that the tipster provided and found it was registered to a resident where there was also a pending report of a “loud music disturbance.” The officer said the driver, later identified as Brisbon, got out and appeared to be removing something from the rear of the SUV. The officer told Brisbon to show his hands, but Brisbon stuffed his hands into his waistband. The officer drew his weapon and Brisbon ran toward nearby apartments. Brisbon reportedly refused to comply with the officer’s commands to get on the ground, and the two struggled once the officer caught up with him. During the struggle, Brisbon put his left hand in his pocket and the officer grabbed onto the suspect’s hand, while repeatedly telling the suspect to keep his hand in his pocket. The officer believed he felt the handle of a gun while holding the suspect’s hand in his pocket.
A Deadly Traffice Stop Demarcus Semer, 21, was fatally shot after he fled from police during a traffic stop in 2016. An officer shot and killed Semer during a traffic stop on April 23, 2016 at 515 North 19th Street, near Avenue G. Holmes tried to pull over Semer for driving at 45 mph in a 25 mph zone on North 23rd Street. Semer initially refused to pull over, but eventually did. Semer refused to hand over his driver’s license, but eventually complied. The officer reported that he smelled marijuana coming from the car so he reached into the car to unlock the door just as another officer got to the scene. The officer did not ask Semer to turn off the car and when the other officer opened the passenger door of Semer’s car and Semer drove away, knocking over the officer. As Semer began to flee, the officer feared for the other officers safety and he fired three times at Semer’s car. Semer stopped the car and bolted. The officer believed Semer was shooting at him and that he saw an object in Semer’s hands. As Semer ran away from the car, the officer fired his weapon, killing Semer.
Stopped for a Broken Headlight A MPD officer stopped a car for a broken headlight in the 5700 block of Winchester Road. The officer issued the driver a ticket and let him go. However, the passenger in the car had several warrants for his arrest. Darrius Stewart, the 19-year-old passenger, was placed in the back seat of the police car to verify the warrants. Investigators said when the officer opened the back door to handcuff Stewart, he kicked the door and attacked the officer. During the fight, Stewart grabbed the officer's handcuffs and swung them at him. The officer grabbed his gun and shot Stewart to end the fight. Stewart went to Regional Medical Center in critical condition where he later died. The officer had several cuts and bruises from the fight, but he did not need to go to the hospital. Stweart was detained several months ago for the same waarnats but was let go after officers realized he was not the correct suspect. There was another person with the same name and several warrants.
The investigation later revealed Semer had a cell phone in his hands, not a gun.
A woman inside an apartment opened a door at that moment, and the officer and Brisbon tumbled inside. Two children, ages 9 and 2, were in a back bedroom. The officer could no longer keep a grip on Brisbon’s hand and, because he feared that the suspect had a gun in his pocket he fired two shots killing Brisbon. The item in Brisbon’s pocket turned out to be a bottle of oxycodone pills.
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I was Just Trying to get on the Ground The shooting of Jerame Reid occurred on December 30, 2014, in Bridgeton, New Jersey. The two-minute fatal encounter started from a routine traffic stop, in which Bridgeton officers pulled over a vehicle for running through a stop sign. While questioning the two men in the car, Leroy Tutt and Jerame Reid, the video shows one officer suddenly shouting to his partner, “We’ve got a gun in his glove compartment!” followed by “Show me your fucking hands.” The officer, who appears to recognize Reid, as he is heard calling him by his first name, retrieves a large silver handgun from the glove compartment. The officer continues to warn Reid to not move, as Reid continues to move his hands around inside the vehicle. Several times, the officer exclaims, “He’s reaching for something!” As the situation intensifies, someone in the vehicle can be heard telling the officers, “I’m not reaching for nothing. I ain’t got no reason to reach for nothing.” Reid then tells the officer, “I’m getting out and getting on the ground.” The officer responds, “No you’re not, stay right there, don’t move.” A struggle ensues as Reid tries to push the door open, and the officer attempts to keep the door closed. The officer steps back, and Reid pushes the door open, gets up, and exits the car with his hands at chest level. The officer backs up and fires as Reid exits the vehicle. Reid reacts to the shots by moving his hands upwards. The other officer fires one shot, and Reid is killed. Reid was unarmed at the time.
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I Just Needed my Medication Frank Smart, 39, a father of nine from the Hill District, died January 5, 2015. Smart was arrested the evening of January 3, 2015, on charges of forgery, theft, marijuana possession and conspiracy, according to a criminal complaint. The next morning, at about 11 a.m., he told jail officials during a medical screening that he needed to take medication twice a day to prevent seizures. Since a medical cart had already made its rounds, he did not receive his medication until that evening, 24 hours after he arrived at the jail. That night, Smart suffered a seizure. Smart died because he was deprived his anti-seizure medication, and when he had a resulting seizure, the officers that responded to the medical emergency held him face down with his hands cuffed behind his back and legs shackled for approximately thirty minutes until he stopped breathing.
I was Shot 5 Times On December 31, 2015, Keith Childress, Jr., 23, father of three, was visiting Las Vegas for the New Year’s holiday. He was walking in a private neighborhood when he was shot five times in broad daylight by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. Police were acting on a sham call from U.S. Marshals that Childress was an armed and dangerous fugitive wanted for attempted murder. Off of this false information, the police pursued Childress and apprehended him. While Childress did have an open court case, he was neither armed and dangerous nor wanted for attempted murder. Within seconds of making contact, Childress was shot several times. The police claim they thought he was armed, but Childress only had his cell phone in his hand. After police shot him, the K-9 unit released dogs onto Childress, biting him several times. Metro police were told by the U.S. Marshal’s Office that Childress was wanted for attempted murder, but that “this information about the attempted murder charge later turned out to be false.”
I said “I Can’t Breathe” 19 Times Michael Sabbie died on July 22 2015, just days after he was locked up at the Bi-state Justice Center. He had been arrested over a verbal dispute with his wife. Sabbie reported at intake that he had hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and asthma. Sabbie wasn’t feeling well and had stopped to lean against the wall before attempting to enter the booking area to make a phone call. He is then held down by six guards, pepper-sprayed and trasnported to a jail nurse for less than a minute, rinsed off and returned to his cell. During the nine-and-a-half minute video, Sabbie says he can’t breathe at least 19 times and asks for water. The next morning, jail guards found the 35-year-old dead on his jail cell floor. According to jail protocol, somebody was supposed to check on Sabbie every 30 minutes overnight. The suit claims that a guard said she did and then later admitted to lying.
I was Shot 5 Times in the Head
They Broke My Neck
An officer was patrolling Madison Park about 3 a.m. June 23, 2016 for after-hours loitering violations when he saw a black four-door car parked. The officer said it appeared someone was moving inside the car so he parked and approached the vehicle on foot.
Darius Robinson, 41, died April 4, 2016 after being restrained by Caddo County Jail staff in a neck hold. Later, the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office ruled Robinson died from asphyxiation caused by manual compression of the neck.
The officer who was working as a one-officer squad notified dispatchers of his location. He roused the driver and told him to wake up. The officer told investigators that during the conversation, he saw a handgun on the passenger seat. The officer said he drew his service weapon and ordered Jay Anderson Jr., 25 to raise his hands and not to reach for the weapon and requested backup officers from dispatchers.
The autopsy states Robinson had a broken neck, several hemorrhages and abrasions from his handcuffs. He was arrested in Oklahoma County on warrants for unpaid child support.
Anderson raised his hands, but at least four times he started to lower his right arm while leaning toward the front passenger seat where the gun was located claimed the officer.
Several days after his death the jail staff claimed that he tried to escape his cell. Robinson reportedly began “acting violently and agitated in his cell,” according to the report.
Robinson was declared dead at a local emergency room, and while the autopsy states he reportedly had a history of “unknown pill abuse,” there were no drugs in his system, according to a toxicology report.
The officer then fired into the vehicle. Anderson was shot five times in the head and once in his shoulder.
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17 Minutes
I was Shot in the Face and in the Chest
Natasha McKenna died while in police custody. The event was particularly notable because it was captured on video. While no charges were filed against the deputies who tasered McKenna, the case became the subject of a federal civil rights investigation.
The shooting of William L. Chapman II, an 18-year-old, on April 22, 2015, in Portsmouth, Virginia, when Chapman was shot and killed in a Wal-Mart parking lot by Portsmouth Police Officer.
McKenna, a 37-year old woman, was being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center by the Fairfax County Police Department and Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office in Fairfax County, Virginia, due to an outstanding warrant. After initially cooperating with officials, there was a week-long delay in transporting McKenna back to Alexandria, where better assistance could be provided, namely, the resources. She was restrained with handcuffs, arms behind her back, her legs shackled, and with a spit mask placed over her head. 17 minutes into the 45 minute struggle to extract her from her cell, McKenna, who was 130 lb was tasered.
Wal-Mart store security called police at 7:30 a.m., reporting that a shoplifter was leaving the store. The officer approached William Chapman across the parking lot, and a struggle between the two ensued. According to witnesses, Chapman broke free but then stepped back towards the officer, at which point the officer shot him twice. He was shot in the face and chest. An autopsy on Chapman found no evidence of a close-range gunshot, indicating that he was shot from several feet away. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Chapman’s body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner with his hands cuffed behind his back. A state toxicology report indicated Chapman had no traces of alcohol or drugs in his system.
A Wrong Turn Ricky Shawatza Hall, 27, of Baltimore. Friends say and police records show that Hall identified as transsexual and went by Mya Hall. Local police have said Hall and the passenger in the vehicle were picked up by a 60-year-old man in Baltimore and arrived with him at the Terrace Motel on U.S. 1 in Elkridge at about 7:30 a.m. Monday. The man told police the pair stole his car when he went to the bathroom. They arrived at the NSA gate shortly before 9 a.m. Law enforcement officials believe the pair, who were initially described as men dressed as women, might simply have taken a wrong turn onto the restricted exit ramp that led them to the NSA gate where they were confronted by the officers.
A sheriff’s deputy used a stun gun to taser her four times because she wouldn’t bend her knees to be put into a wheeled restraint chair. Shortly after being tasered, McKenna suffered cardiac arrest and lost consciousness, but was resuscitated on the way to Inova Fairfax Hospital by emergency responders, was placed on life support, but was determined to be brain dead and was removed from life support after five days. She was pronounced dead on February 8, 2015.
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“Rather than justice for a system of justice for those - Joseph E. Stiglitz
Ride Along
I was Shot 7 Times
Christopher Davis, 21 was a passenger in his Pontiac Bonneville parked outside a Town of East Troy restaurant on Feb. 24, 2016, when the driver tried to take off when he saw marked police cars arriving.
The shooting of Tony Terrell Robinson Jr. occurred on March 6, 2015, in Madison, Wisconsin. Robinson, an unarmed 19-year-old man, was fatally shot by a Madison police officer, during a check-welfare call.
Davis lent his car to Lara, his girlfriend’s cousin, who said he needed to meet someone who owed him money. Davis and another man rode along, but Davis did not know the intended meeting involved drugs, according to his family.
The officer responded to the call of a “Check Person” at 6:30 pm. The officer was backed up by two other officers. The officers arrived to the front of the residence as the first officer on scene was standing in the entrance to the stairwell by the open door.
As the driver pulled out of the lot, an undercover officer ran up to the car and fired several shots, in violation of the department’s policies killing Davis.
The officer went into the open side porch door into a stairway of 12 steps. The officer stood in the entryway of the steps just inside the open door. Approximately 10 seconds after the officer entered Robinson exited his upstairs apartment and started walking down the stairs. The officer fired his gun hitting Robinson 7 times.
One of the bullets hit Davis in the head. Lara drove out of the parking lot and eventually reached speeds exceeding 100 mph, Lara and the other passenger later left the car and fled on foot. Davis, who was found in the car, died an hour later. It was stated that officers destroyed the squad-car camera video.
Robinson was taken to UW Hospital in Madison, WI where he was pronounced dead. Autopsy results confirmed that Robinson had been struck by 7 bullets that were from 0-5 foot range.
I Suffered from a Bipolar Disorder The shooting of Anthony Hill, 26, a U.S. Air Force veteran, occurred on March 9, 2015, in Chamblee, Georgia, near Atlanta. Hill, fatally shot by a US police officer, suffered from mental illness and was naked and unarmed at the time of the incident. He had been medically discharged from the Air Force two years before after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. According to his girlfriend, he had recently stopped taking his medication due to muscular side effects, believing he would see his doctor at the VA within the week. Hill was noted to be acting erratically when police were called; he had hung from his second-story balcony in his apartment complex, and his speech was slurred. The officer waited in his car for several minutes, possibly for backup, when Hill began approaching the officer exited the car and began moving backward. The officer shot him twice at a range of six to seven feet apart. Hill died at the scene. Although the officer had also been carrying a Taser, police baton, and pepper spray, the officer chose the firearm over those options.
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My Whole Family was Killed While on Vacation When police shot and killed India Kager in 2015, she had been inside a car at a 7-Eleven with her child and her child's father, Angelo Perry. On September 5, 2015, Kager and her family were driving from Maryland to Virginia Beach unbeknownist SWAT officers planned a vehicle takedown procedure against Perry. Perry was a known violent criminal, guilty of shootings, robbery, and homicide. When Kager pulled into a 7-Eleven, a police vehicle hit the back of Kager’s car, officers descended, threw a flash grenade and smashed the windows. Perry started shooting at officers and officers returned fire. Officers fired 30 rounds within nine seconds into Kager’s car. Both Kager and Perry were killed. Kager, 27, was a Navy veteran who was working for the U.S. Postal Service. Kager and Perry’s 4-month-old son was unharmed in the backseat.
I was just Sitting in my Car Antronie Scott, 36, was shot and killed on February 4, 2016 by a San Antonio Police officer after Scott was pulled over outside an apartment complex on the city's North Side. The officer Lee said he believed Antronie Scott was holding a gun at the time of the shooting, however, the object was a cellphone. Uundercover detectives who were looking for a man requested uniformed back up to make an arrest when they spotted Antroine Scott in a white Mercedes-Benz at his apartment complex. According to the report the officere said that Scott spun around as he approached the car, and that he saw an object in his hand that he believed to be a weapon. The officer opened fire, killing Antroine Scott. Elena Scott was in the passenger seat when her husband was shot and killed.
I was Shot in the Head On July 19, 2015, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Samuel DuBose, an unarmed black man, was fatally shot by a white University of Cincinnati police officer, during a traffic stop for a missing front license plate and a suspended driver's license. When the officerg asked for DuBose’s driver license, Dubose told him he had a driver license but did not have it with him. The officer then asked DuBose if his driver license was suspended. At that point the officer started to open the driver’s door while ordering DuBose to remove his seat belt. The officer fired after DuBose supposedly started his car shooting him in his head. The officer stated that DuBose had begun to drive off and that he was being dragged because his arm was caught in the car. Prosecutors alleged that footage from the officer’s bodycam showed that he was not dragged.
“When injustice becomes law, r duty.” - ThomasJefferson 66
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(PHO-
I was Shot in the Back Brendon Glenn, 29, was often seen skateboarding on the Venice boardwalk was shot by an officer on May 5, 2015. The officer stated that he shot Glenn because he was going for his partner’s gun during a struggle just off the Venice boardwalk. Footage from a nearby bar’s surveillance camera did not show Glenn’s hands near the officers’ guns. And Proctor’s own partner said he never felt any jerking movements or saw Glenn’s hand near his gun, according to the chief. Glenn, 29, of Troy, New York had recently moved to Los Angeles from New York to look for work. He was unarmed and on his stomach and trying to push himself up when the officer shot him in the back, Glenn wasn’t trying to take a gun from the officer or his partner when he was shot. The officer’s partner told investigators that he didn’t know why the officer opened fire.
The Police Killed Me and My Neighbor In the early morning hours of December 26, 2015, Antonio LeGrier called police, saying that his 19-year-old son, Quintonio LeGrier, who was staying in his father’s apartment, “freaked out” and was holding a baseball bat. Quintonio himself had also called 911 several times that night, telling dispatchers that there was an emergency and that he needed the police. Two of those calls came before his father dialed 911, and were dismissed by dispatchers, a third was made shortly before police arrived. When the two officers arrived at the multi-unit apartment building, they began moving toward the LeGriers’ second-level apartment. According to the officers, Quintonio quickly appeared in front of them, swinging an aluminum and almost striking one of the officers, forcing the officer to move back. The officer then fired at the teenager, striking him several times, with some of the bullets hitting him from behind. One of those shots hit and killed Bettie Jones, the LeGrier’s 55-year old neighbor who lived in a first-level apartment unit and had opened the door for the police.
resistance becomes
I was just getting a Sweet Tea Just after 10:30 p.m. on August 24, 2019, the Aurora Police Department in Colorado received a call about a “suspicious person” wearing a mask and waving his hands. They dispatched three officers who subsequently said Elijah McClain “resisted contact” and continued down the street. According to McClain’s family, the 23-year-old massage therapist had made a quick trip to the convenience store to pick up an iced tea for his brother. His stated that McClain was wearing an open-face ski mask because he “had anemia and would sometimes get cold.” Although he was unarmed, simply walking home and, listening to music, police stated “a struggle ensued.” One officer accused McClain of reaching for his gun, and one put him in a carotid hold, which involves an officer applying pressure to the side of a person’s neck in order to temporarily cut off blood flow to the brain. “Due to the level of physical force applied while restraining the subject and his agitated mental state,” officers then called Aurora First Responders, who “administered life-saving measures. Paramedics injected McClain with what they claimed was a “therapeutic” amount of ketamine to sedate him, while officers held him down. McClain went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, and was taken off life support 6 days later on August 30. At the time he was brain dead, and covered in bruises.
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The Mysterious Hangings in the Midst of the Black Lives Matter Movement
Otis Gulley, a 31-year-old black transgender was found dead on May 27, 2020 hanging from a tree in Rocky Butte Park. The Portland Police Bureau ruled the death a suicide.
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The death of a Black man whose body was found hanging from a tree in was ruled a suicide. Dominique Alexander, 27, of the Bronx was found on a path in Fort Tryon Park near The Cloisters around 6 a.m. on June 9th, 2020 and was pronounced dead at the scene. The city’s medical examiner said on Tuesday that Alexander’s cause of death was ruled to be a “suicide by hanging.”
24-year-old Robert Fuller was also found hanging from a tree the day after Dominique Alexander in Palmdale, California on June 10th, 2020. The L.A. County Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner initially ruled it a suicide, based on the fact that there was no evidence of foul play, but the family disputed the circumstances, and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department is now investigating the death. The FBI has also announced that
Antwon Rose II was a 17-yearold who was fatally shot in East Pittsburgh on June 19, 2018 by East Pittsburgh Police Officer after being involved in a near-fatal driveby shooting. He fled while officers were handcuffing the driver. Gunshot residue was later found on his hand.
Aaron Bailey, 45, an unarmed black motorist was shot and killed June 29, 2017, by two Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers following a late-night traffic stop and brief vehicle pursuit that ended in Bailey crashing his vehicle.
On Aug. 28, 2015 at about 3:40 p.m., Felix Kumi, 61, was at Beekman and Tecumseh avenues when he was shot twice by an undercover NYPD officer who had just been robbed. Kumi was just walking to a nearby repair shop to pick up his car.
On April 12, 2015, Freddie Carlos Gray Jr., 25, was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department and subsequently charged for possessing a knife. While being transported in a police van, Gray fell into a coma and was taken to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center.
The father of three was a bus driver for the Mount Vernon school district for 20 years.
The officers fired 11 shots into the side and back of the vehicle. They claimed Bailey was reaching toward the center console, where they feared a gun may have been stored. Four of the rounds struck Bailey in the back.
Gray died on April 19, 2015; his death was ascribed to injuries to his spinal cord.
On April 2, 2015, 44-year-old Eric Courtney Harris was fatally shot during an undercover sting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Harris ran from authorities unarmed. The officer allegedly confused his personal weapon, a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver, for a Model X26 Taser. The officer shot Harris in the back when he was on the ground. According to the Tulsa County Sheriff’s office, he im-
Kevin Hicks, 44, was unarmed when he was shot and killed by a IMPD Officer outside a gas station at East 10th and North Rural streets on April 5, 2016. Surveillance video captured part of a brief altercation between the two before their momentum swung the pair out of the camera's view.
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PREAMBLE
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution AMENDMENT XIII SECTION 1 Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. SECTION 2 Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Many have paid homage to Abraham Lincoln for the 13th Amendment of the Constitution that states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” But many believe that abolishing slavery was just another one of his political gains to win the election after the Civil War that lasted from 1861 to 1865 since during that time period slavery was a key political factor due to escalating political tension. In fact, when it was politically expedient to do so, he reassured his audiences that he did not endorse citizenship for blacks or believe in the equality of the races. “I am not, nor ever have been, in favour of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races,” he told a crowd in Charleston, Illinois. “I am not nor ever have been in favour of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people.” There is, he added, “a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms 70
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of social and political equality.” When Congress passed confiscation acts in 1861 and 1862, he refrained from a full enforcement of the provisions authorizing him to seize slave property. And when Horace Greeley in the New York Tribune appealed to him to enforce these laws, Lincoln patiently replied (August 22, 1862): “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.” The Civil War was a fight between northern states (Northern United States was composed of the U.S. states that supported the United States of America) loyal to the Union and southern states that had seceded to form the Confederate States of America (The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy, was an unrecognized breakaway state that fought against the United States during the American Civil War.)
The North was distinguished from the South on the issue of slavery. In Southern states, slavery was legal until the ratification of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865. Northern states had all passed some form of legislation to abolish slavery by 1804. A difference of 61 years for freedom. However, abolition did not mean freedom for some existing slaves. Due to gradual abolition laws, slaves would still appear in some Northern states as far as the 1840 United States Census. The civil war began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people. War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina just over a month after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North, which also included some geographically western and southern states, proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states’ rights to uphold slavery. In February 1861, seven Southern slave-holding states were declared by their state governments to have seceded from the country, and the
Confederate States of America was organized in rebellion against the U.S. constitutional government. The Confederacy grew to control at least a majority of territory in eleven states. The Civil War remains the deadliest military conflict in American history with the most number of Americans killed until the Vietnam War in 1955. In 1863 President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring “all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” Nonetheless, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation. Lincoln recognized that the Emancipation Proclamation would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment in order to guarantee the abolishment of slavery since it was just a war goal. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution supposedly abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864 and by Congress on January 31, 1865. On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. The 13th Amendment was ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on December 6, 1865 and proclaimed on December 18, 1865. The war effectively ended on April 9, 1865, when Confederate General
Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the Battle of Appomattox Court House. Confederate generals throughout the Southern states followed suit, the last surrender on land occurring June 23. Much of the South’s infrastructure was destroyed, especially its railroads. The Confederacy collapsed, slavery was abolished, and four million enslaved black people were freed. The war-torn nation then entered the Reconstruction era in a partially successful attempt to rebuild the country and grant civil rights to freed slaves. The 13th amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War before the Southern states had been restored to the Union and should have easily passed the Congress. Although the Senate passed it in April 1864, the House did not. At that point, Lincoln took an active role to ensure passage through congress. He insisted that passage of the 13th amendment be added to the Republican Party platform for the upcoming Presidential elections. His efforts met with success when the House passed the bill in January 1865 with a vote of 119–56. With the adoption of the 13th amendment, the United States found a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery. The 13th amendment, along with the 14th and 15th, is one of the trio of Civil War amendments that greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans.
The 14th amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” 15th amendment states. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Even though the political reintegration of the nation took another 12 years to complete known as the Reconstruction era. This famous decree, which he justified as an exercise of the president’s war powers, applied only to those parts of the country actually under Confederate control, not to the loyal slave states nor to the federally occupied areas of the Confederacy. In fact the proclamation only brought freedom during the war to fewer than 200,000 slaves. Yet it is known for having a great significance as a symbol towards the negro race.
Here are the three amendments:
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution AMENDMENT XIV SECTION 1 All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
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BLACK WALL STREET
The Once Prosperous Black-Owned Business sands moved to the area they saw a mecca for the establishDistrict in the Greenwood District of Tulsa ment of Black towns. He had a vision to create something for black people by black people. He was a participant in During the oil boom of the 1910s, an area of north- the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 in which the governeast Oklahoma near Tulsa flourished, including the ment opened unassigned lands that were considered some Greenwood neighborhood, which came to be known of the best unoccupied public land in the United States as “the Negro Wall Street” which is now referred to with an estimated 50,000 people lined up for their piece as “the Black Wall Street.” The term “Negro Wall of the available two million acres for settlement. During Street” was coined by none other than famed Afri- the rush he purchased 40 acres of land that he reserved can-American author and educator, Booker T. Wash- for Black purchases only that established Tulsa’s Black ington. At the time, the Greenwood District was home community. Oklahoma was promoted to be a safe haven to dozens of prominent African-American businessmen. for African Americans to have a start post emancipation. Greenwood boasted a variety of thriving businesses that were very successful up until the events known as the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. In fact, the district was so successful that a dollar would stay within the district an estimated nineteen months before being spent elsewhere. Not only did black Americans want to contribute to the success of their own shops, but there were also racial segregation laws that prevented them from shopping anywhere other than Greenwood.
Gurley began the work of community building almost immediately upon his arrival in the territory. Gurley first started with a boarding house for African Americans then word began to spread about opportunities for blacks in Greenwood and they flocked to the district. Gulley then started to loan money to black people who wanted to start a business. A system was put in place for individuals who wanted to own a business could get help in to start the process.
The creation of the powerful black community known as Black Wall Street was intentional. “In 1906, O.W. Gurley, a wealthy African-American from Arkansas, moved to Tulsa and purchased over 40 acres of land that he made sure was only sold to other African-Americans. Gurley provided an opportunity for those migrating “from the harsh oppression of Mississippi” which proclaimed him to be the wealthiest man in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In 1889, he served as the principal of the City Schools of Perry, Oklahoma. In 1906, he helped to found the AME Church in Tulsa. Gurley built a hotel, built five homes and three two-story buildings, had a real estate business, and was also a merchant. In addition, he purchased an 80 acre farm in Rogers County. Gurley’s hotel was located on a road he named Greenwood, after the city of Greenwood, Mississippi.
Gurley was not a native Oklahoman but moved to the Once the word spread other prominent black entreOklahoma Territory at a time when Blacks in the thou- preneurs followed suit like J.B. Stradford who was 72
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born into slavery in Kentucky. Stradford after the civil war he became a lawyer and activist. He moved to Greenwood in 1898 and built a 55-room luxury hotel bearing his name, the largest black-owned hotel in the country. He believed that blacks had a better chance of economic progress if they pooled their resources.
side of Greenwood was spent within the district. This community was called “Black Wall Street” because of the prosperity of Blacks in Tulsa and their creation of businesses, professional practices and real estate holdings. The average income of black families in the area exceeded “what minimum wage is today.” As a result of segregation, a “dollar circulated 36 to 100 times” and remained in A.J. Smitherman, a publisher whose family moved to the Greenwood “almost a year before leaving.” Even more imarea in the 1890s, founded the Tulsa Star, a black news- pressive, at that time, the “state of Oklahoma had only two paper headquartered in Greenwood that became instru- airports,” yet “six black families owned their own planes.” mental in establishing the district’s socially-conscious mindset. The newspaper regularly informed African Between 1865 and 1920, African Americans founded more Americans about their legal rights and any court rulings than 50 black townships in the entire state making Oklaor legislation that were beneficial or harmful to their homa the largest number of black townships after the Civcommunity. Demands for equal rights were an ongoing il War. mission for blacks in Tulsa despite Jim Crow oppression. Greenwood itself had a railway track running through it that separated the black and white populations. Consequently, the vision of having a self-contained and self-reliant black economy came to be not only by desire but by logistics. Tulsa was rigidly segregated, and Oklahoma became increasingly racist after statehood. On Greenwood Avenue, there were luxury shops, restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, jewelry and clothing stories, movie theaters, barbershops and salons, a library, pool halls, nightclubs and offices for doctors, lawyers and dentists. Greenwood also had its own school system, post office, a savings and loan bank, hospital, and bus and taxi service. Greenwood was a very religiously active community there were more than two dozen black American churches and many Christian youth organizations and religious societies. Detroit Avenue, along the edge of Standpipe Hill, contained a number of expensive houses belonging to doctors, lawyers and business owners. The buildings on Greenwood Avenue housed the offices of almost all of Tulsa’s black lawyers, realtors, doctors, and other professionals. Deep Greenwood, as the area at the intersection of Greenwood and Archer Avenues was known, served as a model African-American community to towns worldwide. Greenwood was home to far less affluent African Americans as well. A significant number still worked in menial jobs, such as janitors, dishwashers, porters, and domestics. The money they earned out-
https://blackmeninamerica.com/business-exchange-what-happened-to-black-wall-street/
ROBERT A LARSON/COURTESY OF COWAN'S AUCTIONS
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The Massacre On Black Wall Street
https://www.uncrownedcommunitybuilders.com/person/ottowa-o-w
I
t wasn’t long before the Black Wall Street attracted the attention of local white residents, who resented the upscale lifestyle of people they deemed to be an inferior race. The white citizens were angry that blacks no longer passively accepted the low class option that they had been handed for years and had now created their own rules and wealth. With the state and city already racially divided the white residents were already plotting on to destroy the area and on May 31, 1921 they were given that opportunity. Who knew that Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District, known as Black Wall Street would change forever when the Tulsa Tribune reported that a black man, Dick Rowland, attempted to rape a white woman, Sarah Page. Whites in the area refused to wait for the investigative process to play out, sparking two days of unprecedented racial violence. Thirty-five city blocks went up in flames, 300 people died, and 800 were injured. Defense of white female virtue was the expressed motivation for the collective racial violence.
black and white armed mobs arrived at the courthouse. Scuffles broke out, and shots were fired and the blacks realized they were outnumbered so they headed back to Greenwood. But the enraged whites were not far behind, looting and burning businesses and homes along the way. Nine thousand people became homeless that week. The unapologetically black community home of black banks, hotels, cafés, clothiers, movie theaters, and contemporary homes with indoor plumbing and a remarkable school system that superiorly educated black children had been destroyed. It was very evident that whites resented the upper-class lifestyle of the community and as a result of a jealous desire to put progressive African-Americans in their place, a wave of domestic white terrorism caused black dispossession. While the majority of the nearly 300 people believed killed were Black and the millions of dollars lost in the destruction of businesses and property were suffered by Black Tulsans, Blacks were blamed for starting the riot.
Accounts vary on what happened between Page and Row- The economic status of the community could not save them land in the elevator of the Drexel Building, yet as a re- from the racial hostility of that day. Many claimed the sult of the Tulsa Tribune’s racially inflammatory report, area was bombed with kerosene or nitroglycerin causing 74
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the inferno to rage more aggressively. The private planes wood District. The district had grown from a population of were on reconnaissance missions sent to survey the area to 18,182 in 1910 to almost 100,000 residents by 1920. see what happened. Despite their inflated perceptions of themselves, there The police force contributed to the riot by allowing mobs were blacks in Oklahoma who were millionaires and it soreto gather at the courthouse for hours before seeking addi- ly irks the white race to see Negroes making greater progtional assistance and they actively participated in the riot ress than they themselves. The destruction of this successby deputizing whites without discretion, arming them with ful African-American community was no accident; it was guns to multiply the police force overnight. The police dis- very intentional it was necessary and a natural response to regarded due process, arresting blacks and holding them in put the blacks back in their place. detention camps while no whites were arrested during the riot. Two days after the riot, the mayor wasted no time in establishing the Reconstruction Committee to redesign the The media and government officials downplayed the massa- Greenwood District for industrial purposes. Blacks were cre and riots making it seem as though blacks had been re- offered below market value for their property. White men sponsible for destroying their own area. Their newspapers who offered “almost any price for their property” perreferred to the Greenwood district as “Little Africa” and ceived survivors as desperate and destitute. The govern“n***** town.” The district was labeled as a community of ment and private industry worked together to bring down “bad n****s” who drank booze, took dope, and ran around land prices and maintain white dominance in the Tulsa area. with guns. White politicians and residents perceived the black community in need of social control of the “black After the riot the survivors nor their families ever received criminals” they housed. Whites in turn justified the dead- the reparations from the Tulsa Race Riot Commission. The ly violence on Black Wall Street as a necessary action be- commission recommended that the state legislature, the cause blacks needed to be subjugated. Governor, the Tulsa mayor, and the city council take the following actions to make direct payment of reparations to The Tulsa World newspaper inflamed the tensions between “riot” survivors and their descendants who lost property blacks and whites by suggesting that the Ku Klux Klan and create a scholarship fund available to students affectcould “restore order in the community.” Since the KKK ed by the riot. The commission also proposed initiatives for asserted white superiority with terroristic acts, such as the economic revitalization of the Greenwood community. lynchings, the mere suggestion from a mainstream newspaper Despite the tragic events, these grand ideas never manifestthat the KKK should intervene demonstrates how white ed into a tangible reality. When white people destroyed supremacy was not only legitimized but also promoted with black business establishments and homes, the façade of legal impunity. white superiority was maintained for almost 20 years. Portraying all blacks as criminals served the black inferiority narrative, maintained Jim Crow segregation, and promoted the violent enforcement of racist ideology. The racial framing of blacks as criminals legitimized whites’ congregation “at the courthouse and the subsequent destruction of the Greenwood area.” The massacre of Black Wall Street primarily occurred due to whites “generalized perception that African Americans were ‘out of line” and needed to be put “back in their place.”
By the 1940s almost 20 years later, the Greenwood District was rebuilt, but due to integration during the Civil Rights era in the 1960’s, never regained as much prominence. The area thrived until desegregation allowed blacks to shop in areas from which they were previously restricted. Regardless of the progress made by prominent African-Americans, American capitalism is structured to keep a white segment of society ahead.
Despite racial discrimination and Jim Crow segregation, the Greenwood district offered proof that black entrepreneurs were capable of creating vast wealth. Black economic prosperity contributed to the destruction of the Green-
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Historic Maps/ullstein bild/Getty Images
Greenwood Cultural Center
U.S. National Park Service
Greenwood Cultural Center
Greenwood Cultural Center
Greenwood Cultural Center
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OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
GETTY IMAGES Oklahoma Historical Society/Getty Images
Tulsa Historical Society
Greenwood Cultural Center
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