Black Lives: A Glance Through The Looking Glass
One of the biggest questions I have received over the last few days from my non-black friends, work colleagues, and counterparts has been…
I feel that is a loaded question, due to the various answers I can and would like to give. Yet without writing a much larger essay, I will expand upon one area. You all should try and understand where we as Black and Brown humans are coming from.
For us to find actionable solutions and work together to bring them to fruition, YOU must first identify and understand the civil injustices we as Black and Brown Americans experience every day of our lives.
The fears we feel and the injustices that we have been forced to live with, and accept for generations. What you must understand is that our anger and grief do not just stem from George Floyd’s horrendous murder. It is a byproduct of the unanswered genocide of COUNTLESS Black and Brown human beings that has been performed by not only police but normal citizens for as far back as any living Black or Brown American can remember.
Our anger is not just about police brutality. It also encompasses and steams from how we are treated, perceived, and portrayed in every aspect of our lives from the workplace, to educational institutions, and our very own communities.
I, like many other Black and Brown Americans, have been on the receiving end of all the things listed above. While interviewing for a Software Engineering position last year the first thing the CIO (Chief Information Officer) said to me when he walked into the interview room was “Nice tie and wow that’s sure is quite a bit of hair you got. Do you always wear it like that?”
I also worked for one of the largest cruise lines in the world, but before they extended me a letter of employment they demanded and required that I cut my dreads which I had been growing for over 6 years. The even crazier part is, “In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court declined an opportunity to address hair-based discrimination involving an Alabama woman fired from a call center job in 2010 because she refused to cut her dreadlocks.”
I have personally been pulled out of my car at gunpoint by police. And at the age of 9 years old my parents sat me down and had “the talk” with me. Every Black and Brown American in this country knows what I am talking about; and no it has nothing to do with the Birds and the Bees.
The “talk” in which I refer to is when a young Black or Brown child reaches a certain age, normally around 9–13 where it is explained to us that no matter what we do or how far we go in life we will always be viewed as a Black or Brown person first. And with that, comes certain perceptions and danger.
During my talk, my father told me a story of when he was about 12 years old living in Philadelphia. A white police officer pulled my father into their car and said he could kill him if he wanted and no one would do anything about it. My father said, “Son even though that was over 30 years ago, it can still happen to you today, and you have to understand that.” And now fast forward almost another 30 years later, it is still happening and is still true.
We Black and Brown Americans have been trapped in a vicious cycle of fear, mistrust, self-loathing, murder, mistreatment, underrepresentation, and much much more. We have been raised to know that this is the status quo and there is nothing for us to do about it other than live with it.
So I challenge you all; rather than asking me or another Black or Brown person how are they doing? Ask them what they have experienced. Ask them to help you see the world through their eyes. Ask them to help you remove the veil of ignorance from your sight.
This is not just a Black and Brown issue. This is an American issue. Every American has to do their part and we ALL have to work together.
In my attempt to help you, help us I would like to share a great song and video which was created by a DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) artist named Wale. He flips the status quo in this video and gives a small window into how it feels to be a Black and Brown human being in America. I encourage everyone to give this a watch and am more than willing to open a dialog with anyone who would like to talk more about the video, its many subliminal meanings and answers any questions you might have to help shed light on the experiences of Black and Brown humans in America.
Please feel free to reach out by leaving a comment below. I am always willing and ready to talk.
Stay Safe and let us make real actionable and effective change together.
Sincerely,
Roger Campbell II
Update: On Saturday, June 6th; along with thousands of others, I participated in a demonstration in Washington DC. We were part of the now worldwide demonstrations against the violence and rampant racism that is a cornerstone of the United States culture towards Black and Brown Americans.
My sister, brother, girlfriend, and I had been standing on the top steps of the Lincoln Memorial for nearly three hours already holding our sign.
We, like all the other demonstrators, were barred entry to the memorial due to police barricades and Military Forces.
Around noon a large crowd had assembled in preparation for the #BlackLivesMatter rally and march. As the sun shined high in the sky and I looked out at all the people gathered I had this intense urge to speak to them.
As the gnawing feeling to speak continued to pull at me, I thought this is the perfect time to share my story with all these people. So I walked down the steps to the middle of the memorial staircase and asked the crowd if I could speak.
I would like to give out a huge shout out and thank you to Monique Blyther for putting this amazing film together.
