“I was pulled over for driving over the speed limit. I BROKE THE LAW! Each officer got out, slowly approached my car with their hands on their guns. That had never happened to me before, so I thought it strange. One cautiously approached my window and asked, ‘Are YOU okay, Ma’am?’ She stared at my son with a look I had never seen in an officer before.”
‘Are YOU okay, ma’am?’ The officer was staring at my passenger, my 15-year-old son. Her hand shot right back on her gun.’: Mom speaks out about racism against son, ‘My skin protected him’
‘I was sleeping 16 hours a day. I felt someone squeezing my lungs every time I took a breath. ‘You’re fine, just go home and rest.’: Woman battling Lupus urges ‘you’re capable of crushing every obstacle in your path’
“A group of doctors huddled at the end of my bed. I overheard them say, ‘She’s so incredibly sick, we just can’t figure out what’s wrong. She isn’t going to make it.’ I spiked a 104 fever. I was writhing in pain, grunting, moaning, begging for it to stop.”
Reflections from a Token Black Friend
“There is no escape. There is no level of success that will spare you. We are black men, and that is all that matters to some. Many white people do not understand their level of ignorance — especially the good ones.”
‘In my rearview mirror I saw a small, dark SUV turn around and follow me. ‘What’s going on?’ The police jumped out and drew their guns.’: Military veteran details experiences with racism in and out of uniform
“I was told, ‘Your vehicle matches the description of a robbery.’ He cuffed me as two more squad cars pulled in front of my house. I explained to them I wasn’t the man they were looking for and to please check the security cameras. They handcuffed me in front of my kids. Not in my military uniform, I was no longer one of the ‘good ones.'”
‘He gets to come home every night and take off his badge, his vest, his weapons. That choice is a PRIVILEGE.’: Cop’s daughter powerfully explains why ‘black lives matter’
“He can walk outside and nobody has to know he’s a cop. But black mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, and children? When the hate becomes too much or too hard, they don’t get to change their skin tone. They shouldn’t have to want to, but they are feared for simply existing.”
‘Sometimes people think I look like a criminal, so I must smile more often.’ That’s what I had to tell my daughter.’: Dad says ‘I must build a better world for our girls, and better girls for our world’
“We had The Race Talk. I explained, ‘I don’t look like a criminal to everybody. Just some people. I wish this was a world where people didn’t judge us by the color of our skin. But right now, it isn’t…'”
‘He whispered, ‘You are not alone,’ and cradled this stranger in his arms as she took her last breath. Chad, too, was dying.’: Widow details police officer’s kindness during final weeks of life
“He was dying. He knew he was. The cancer was slowly eating at every part of his body, yet when he arrived on scene that day, it was not the first thing on his mind. He put it all aside to comfort a woman he did not know.”
‘A police officer pulled up. ‘Is everything okay?’ He wanted to talk. We stood outside for an hour, discussing the issues our nation is facing.’: Man urges ‘moments like this need to be shared’
“He didn’t pull out his gun. He didn’t mace or tase me. Instead, he took the time to ask me, a minority, about the issues we are facing and my thoughts on how we can fix them.”
‘He said she got in her vehicle and got on her phone and pulled off to an area near the gas station. Within minutes police cars pulled in and surrounded him.’: Woman recounts husband’s experience with racism ‘He came home a changed man. I am a changed woman’
“My husband wanted to do me a favor one night when he got home late from work. While there, an older white woman was at a pump across from him and he noticed she appeared very nervous and stared at him. He was told he fit a description. They asked whose car he was driving. He was told he could not leave. He was told the description was simply a black man. He came home a changed man.”
‘My husband must jog in front of me, so people don’t think he’s chasing me. If we call the police, I must be the one to answer the door.’: Woman urges ‘we must amplify black voices’
“My husband is funny, thoughtful, nerdy, outgoing, caring, and sweet. Everyone who knows him knows this. But still, it could have been him.”
