Time to Speak Up

7 times I've been harassed by cops in my life—so far.

People are shocked when I tell them because I'm an optimistic person who is kind to people of all colors. But that doesn't mean I haven't experienced hardship. I was one of the lucky ones who got out alive.

The last time I was harassed by a cop was in Jersey when cops came into our home in the middle of the night, guns drawn, without a warrant and woke my friend up while he slept in his bed with a blinding flashlight in the pitch dark and a gun pointed in his face. He screamed for help, reacting as anyone would if they thought intruders were in their house in the middle of the night.

We were, of course, the only black people on the block and the only ones harassed in the neighborhood that night. You learn quickly as a person of color to report such things is a waste of time, especially when outright murders go without justice. You might get a "tsk-tsk, what a shame" from people, or a "well, you must have been doing something wrong for the cops to do that", or a "how were you dressed?" or a "well, they're just doing their job" as if somehow this harassment is your fault.

Many of us have friends and family who are police officers and good people—amazing people—who put their lives on the line everyday. I've had great experiences with fantastic police officers both family and friends, but that doesn't negate their responsibility to abolish the blue code of silence.

Even well-dressed, educated, and optimistic people of color get harassed too—and this doesn't count daily racist microaggressions. Regular mental health check ups, proper training reform, therapy and PTSD treatment is needed to support trigger-happy police enforcement as well as the good men and women in blue. They need a secure way to be able to report injustice within law enforcement without backlash.

When you see violence and looting in the news, don't ignore the fact that the majority of protests are peaceful, and please don't tell people of color how they should feel about a situation or how they should react, unless you've been in their shoes.

What can you do that will make a difference? Get your news from more than one television network so that you have a full understanding before you tweet your opinion. Demand regular mental health treatment for officers and stricter justice for those who know the law inside and out and yet think they are above it. Don't mansplain or whitesplain to a person of color when they're telling you about their experiences, this is the time to listen.

A reaction such as what we're seeing now globally doesn't happen overnight, it comes from generations of not being heard, of not being understood, of being patronized and silenced. When the history books record this event, what will they say about you? Were you on the right side of history, were you part of the problem or will you be part of the solution?

#TimeToSpeakUp #SpeakUp