“They Put Us Down, When We Already Down”: Police and Juvenile Justice
By the fall of 2015, there had been a wave of police murders of unarmed Black youth, young men and boys. Eric Garner choked on a sidewalk in July 2014; Michael Brown shot in the street in August; Tamir Rice shot in a playground in November; Freddie Gray dead from injuries in a van and Walter Scott shot in a park both in April 2015. Shocking videos had been recorded of some of their deaths, and they had gone viral. Black Lives Matter became the rallying cry and a protest movement. Angry and shaken to the core by these deaths, high school students at EVC feared that they could be next. Transcripts of Videos Referenced in Chapter 2 Video Guide
“My afro was out. And he’s like grabbing my book bag and my hair at the same time.”
We All Get Frisked
We All Get Frisked
“We remember that the most, because like, they put, they put us down. When we already down.”
My Youth Was Locked Up
My Youth Was Locked Up
“Whatever they was doing, that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be part of that gleam, that hustle. . . . I wanted to be—I wanted that sense of feeling of belonging.”
Raised by a Village
Raised by a Village
“It was sad because the people I loved the most, were either, you know, not there, or, you know, treating me the way I didn’t like to be treated.”
It Damaged My Family
It Damaged My Family
“I’ve been a ward of the state all my life! Since 15. That’s all I knew! That’s all I knew was how to survive in there. I didn’t know how to do time out here.”
Get Up!
Get Up!
“I was 15. Came home at 25. It was hell for me in there, you know.”
