Make sure to portray Brandon Webber’s image the correct way

Last night, I sat in my bed constantly refreshing my Twitter and Facebook feeds as the news started to spread.

20-year old black man Brandon Webber was shot and killed by U.S. Marshals in Memphis, Tennessee on Wednesday evening. Family members have said he was shot 16–20 times while being detained in handcuffs and was left laying in the yard for an insurmountable amount of time.

Webber had made a 25 on his ACT, was an honors student in high school and attended college.

As I scrolled through headlines and skimmed through numerous articles, I didn’t see these facts posted. Instead, I saw drug dealer, images of him with guns and misinterpreted quotes from his social media that all portrayed Webber as a criminal who likely got what he deserved.

Anger began to boil through my body. Why do they portray our people like this?

As a journalist, I see the laziness in their work. They scroll right to Facebook to get a quick look at pictures and make their judgement.
This is not how this story will be told.

Brandon’s image:
It’s human nature. The first thing most people did when learning of Webber’s death was click on his social media page. On his Facebook, there was a live video about seven minutes long.

In the video Webber is seen making a drug transaction as he rides through his neighborhood. He also appeared to be smoking weed.

If you used these two events to make judgement on Webber, shame on you.

The sad part is that’s what most people did. Comments on various social media posts attempted to justify his death by calling him a thug and criminalizing him for smoking and selling drugs.

Much more happened in that video. In the video, someone asks Webber to bring them a 10-piece of honey gold wings. Webber responded in the video by asking where the person was and saying “I’ll do it” in a serious tone.

While irrational people focused on the drug transaction, it would’ve been smarter to focus on the conversation that Webber was having with the individual. Webber was talking to the individual about how he was trying to help another person with advice. As the conversation closes, Webber states that the person that he’s been giving advice is starting to listen more.

Webber, a father of three kids, also referred to them in the video. He spoke about how a person close to him liked being out late into the night and how he wanted to just go home and lay with his kids.

In that video, I didn’t see a ruthless drug dealer who was a threat to society. I saw a young father who was willing to give to others and wanted to help people around him better themselves.

Here’s something that’s hard for people to understand; all drug dealers are not bad guys. People who weren’t raised in neighborhoods that contained drug dealers may not understand. They’ve seen Hollywood portray drug dealers in a much more negative light. That’s just not reality.

As a child I can recall many times where me and my friends would be outside playing. A man would come to us, give us all a couple dollars and tell us to go get some candy. It would be the highlight of our day.

That man sold drugs.

Some of the nicest people I’ve encountered in my life have sold drugs. People that have had substantial impacts on helping me be where I am today have sold drugs. They also possessed handguns and smoked weed as well.
That doesn’t make them horrible people. For every Tony Montana and Don Corleone, there’s what we refer to as a “neighborhood hero.”

If more reporters and writers had upbringings from these environments, we’d see a more accurate depiction of who people like Webber really were. And yes, they’re out here applying for news jobs.

More times than not, a person is selling drugs as a way of survival. Webber was a father of three kids. $10 per hour wasn’t going to make ends meet in his case.

Instead of viewing him as a criminal, how about viewing him as someone who was willing to take a risk in order to provide for his family.

All of the negative comments and portrayals of Webber are coming from people who didn’t know him. Look closer at his page, and it’s easy to see the impact he had on the people that did know him.

“They don’t know how hard you go for your family, your kids, and me,” one relative said in a post.

Long posts about how Webber impacted lives, made people laugh and screenshots of inspirational messages he sent have flooded his page.
While people who didn’t know Webber try to incorrectly portray him, just take a look at the impact he had on the people around him.
That’s a more accurate depiction of who Webber was. Just make sure you remember that when reading the majority of these news headlines and stories.

Our city, Memphis:
Webber resided in Frayser, which is located in the north part of Memphis. He is from a community that is referred to as “the bay.”

That is a tight-knit community and they look out for each other. That’s why the reaction in the neighborhood didn’t surprise me one bit.
The North Memphis natives reacted by rioting the area. This included throwing things at officers, breaking police car windows and harming a reporter.

As a Memphis native, I felt their anger and raw emotion. That could’ve been someone from my neighborhood or one of my close friends.

One reporter attempted to go live and was interrupted by angry members of the community who wouldn’t let her complete the segment. Another reporter was knocked to the ground. These events caused even more asinine comments.

“I can tell by the reaction of the crowd, whoever got shot, probably deserved it,” one Facebook poster said.

“Look at the intelligence of that crowd… amazing,” another poster added.

Once again, people being too quick to judgement.

Did they even try to think about the impact of losing someone who was loved by many in a community? Did they consider that his body had to lay on the ground for an unspecified amount of time after being shot in a place he proudly represented?

Those people in that neighborhood felt that.

No, their reaction wasn’t the “proper” way to react to the situation, but their voices were heard; that’s what mattered most.

It’s not the best look for our city, but that’s okay. It’s times like these where Memphis natives have to come together. No matter what area you stay in, what school you go to or what gang you represent, this is a time we all must come together as one and let our voices be heard.

This isn’t just another killing in Memphis. It isn’t “just another day in the city.”

This isn’t a time to put a spotlight on “fake love.” If someone is supporting Webber, let them show their support.

Memphis is a unique city with a unique flavor that everyone won’t understand. People outside of Memphis often mistake our passionate voices as threats. They mistake our slang terms as ignorance.

Let’s show them that those passionate voices can evoke the change we want as a result of Webber’s death.