Mask or Not to Mask That is the Question for a Black Man

Last week I joked about this very topic with a friend about wearing a mask while being Black, as Boston Globe writer Aaron Thomas discussed in his piece "Why Don't I feel Safe Wearing a Face Mask."

I received a call from a prominent Jimmy John's franchisee owner (Anthony Tomey) here in Metro Detroit. He heard about "Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen for Good"- an initiative among our food and beverage clients to feed homeless shelters and the food insecure in Detroit amid living with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and he wanted to make a sizable donation of fresh perishable foods to help our cause. The only problem, someone would need to come pick it up roughly 20 miles from Detroit, oh and this call came on day one of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive order to stay in place for all nonessential workers.

Honestly at this time I don't know if I am essential or not, but I do know my team of chefs and cooks need this produce to prepare meals and I was hell-bent on making my way to Canton, Michigan if I had to take every side street and back road to get there. After plotting the address into my phone's GPS app, I realized the journey would best be made by taking two expressways - I-96 west to I-275 south to Michigan Avenue. Before leaving the house my wife and I had a conversation - that is putting it mildly on why I should not leave the house in the middle of the biggest health crisis on planet earth. She lost the argument. Before leaving I remembered I had a box of painting supplies in the basement. And as part of those supplies I would always keep masks to protect myself from hash fumes while painting or sanding - longer story but 12 years ago while working on my home I exposed myself to lead paint doing some stripping work outside and not wearing proper protections. Anyway, in that paint supplies box was a package of what ...N95 masks I had purchased from Home Depot.

After properly donning my mask before leaving the house, I sanitized the inside of my truck with bleach water and headed on my journey to reclaim perishable foods. I'm not going to lie I was scared shitless because the freeway was empty - it looked like a scene from the AMC television show the "Walking Dead," with spares movements, things frozen in time, or the few drivers on the roads speeding to get from place A to B.

I tried to act normal by turning on the Sirus/XM stations - first listen to CNN, then I turned to the Joel Osteen channel - because in that moment I started praying for two things first, Lord please don't let me get sick for doing good, and second, please don't let the police see me, stop me, or think because I'm wearing a mask I am up to no good.

I traveled from I-96 west to I-275 southbound, so far, so good.

Then on the horizon in the middle of the freeway medium I spotted an all to familiar round, red, cylinder sitting on top of a royal-blue SUV - a Michigan State Police vehicle. I was wearing my mask and oddly enough I got real nervous thinking oh shit what if this officer stops me because I'm on the road maybe disobeying an order, or I look suspicious driving wearing a mask, or I look suspicious driving wearing a mask and being Black. Oh yes all those thoughts crossed my mind while making sure I adjusted my speed to be well below the speed limit, and I was contemplating taking the next exit to do what I call "shake and bake" changing my direction to to find an alternative route back to my destination that will not force me to pass by this police officer.

However, I did not do a shake-and-bake. I decided it was best to be calm, cool and just be prepared to tell the true - after all the truth is suppose to set you free, right? I am really saying a preyer now as I draw near to this police vehicle. Whoosh, I drive by with my head pointed straight, but my eyes were batting from the driver side mirror to the center-rear mirror just to confirm I had not attached any attention.

GPS soon led me off the freeway and to my destination. As promise the perishable good was stacked outside and the pick-up zone and I loaded 700-pounds of vegetables and mixed greens onto the back of my truck. I felt accomplished I had travel so far to answer a call to help and make a difference for others in Detroit.

Altruism is in our DNA at Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen for Good. Heading back to Detroit now with an open bed fool of boxes that toped the hight of the truck's cabin I felt confident of my essential purpose to be on the road and assuming the risk that bought. On the way back I saw two more Michigan State Police Trooper vehicles perched on the medium of I-275 north bound. As before, I checked my speed - driving much slower now with a bunch of stacked food, my head was up tall, eyes forward, but this time as I approached the first vehicle I glanced over to the left to look at the officer sitting in the car. We made eye contact, the officer with a slight head nod, I returned my eyes to the front of the road and headed home.

Yes, even amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic being Black still comes with a degree of unique mental stress and over thinking. When this is all over me and the therapist are going to have a lot to talk about. Be well, be safe Detroit.

“Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen for Good,” powered by restaurateurs Ron Bartell (Kuzzo's Chicken and Waffles), Stephanie Byrd (The Block, Flood's Bar and Grille), David Rudolph (D. Ericson & Associate PR), our team of chefs lead by Maxcel Hardy (Coop Caribbean Fusion), James Beard Award nominated chef Genevieve Vang (Bangkok 96 Street Food), Phil Jones (Ma Haru) are feeding shelters, and the food insecure with sourced perishable foods in Detroit. #TooManyCooksInTheKitchenForGood.