“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that” Martin Luther King Jr.
Peace my Peoples. This is truly a moment of thinking out loud and releasing it on paper. I move in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
I thought my next Reflection for 2012 would be light and uplifting. The fact that I am already writing one means we will have a very interactive year.
I find the timing of this reflection necessary as I think MLK Day should be about how far have we come and where are we going.
This incident has stayed with me and the only way I know to release it, is to share it with you.
On Tuesdays I am at the high school for our HER Project. I try to leave sooner than when all the youth are at the train station. We can all say it, it gets loud and at times there is a tone of disrespect.
A few years back there was a report that youth of color feel harassed and profiled by the Transit Police. I brought this issue to the girls and I found that all agreed with the report. They even acknowledged that sometimes they are not at their best and the exchange gets intense.
In knowing this, on Tuesday as I entered the station, I smiled as I saw a group of young men of color just having fun. They were laughing and their spirits seemed so light. They were “jiving” and making fun of one of their friends.
Immediately after seeing this joyful visual, I saw a Transit Police officer walk closer to them and yell, “Get down to the platform”. The young men began to move right away. I thought, Oh good, nothing is going to happen.
I then look around and the officer follows them to the platform. We all arrive at the platform at the same time and the young men keep talking and laughing. The officer then begins harassing them, “Yeah, I’m watching you. I’m waiting for you to make the wrong move.” I am saying to myself, this is not ok.
One of the young men turns around and makes eye contact with the officer. The officer then begins to embarrass him, “I’m going to pull you by your ponytail and drag you out on your tippy toes.”
Why is he doing this? Why is he trying to create a bad situation? I then make eye contact with the young man and say, “please turn around, mira hacia el frente, no lo mires.” He listens to me. I then move closer and ask that they all please turn around.
I then walk closer to the officer and say, “This is not necessary. Whatever they have done in the past, whatever you think they have done at all or deserve, they are not doing it in this moment. There is no need to harass them or embarrass them.”
He gives me the deadliest look. His partner who has been standing next to him all along says, “Let’s go before this gets ugly.” I am thinking it is already ugly, he crossed the line.
I know some of you are probably saying, “Yvette has gone crazy.” You are also saying, “Yvette does not know these boys to be defending them.” True, I don’t know their past but it still does not justify such a behavior and No, I am not going crazy. All I was thinking about was the lightness in the spirit of these young men. Witnessing that level of injustice, it was impossible for me to turn the other cheek.
I then get on the train and all the young men, about six of them, sit around me and go onto to share that this happens every day. They share that they don’t respond because they know they would get arrested.
Too many of our young men are incarcerated because of this kind of injustice. If we want them to grow, learn right from wrong, then we as adults cannot behave in the way the officer did. He was misusing his power at the risk of ruining the life of a young man. The sad part also is that I don’t think he knew how to stop himself.
We all get off at the same stop and one of them says to me, “Ms. Thanks for standing up for us.” My heart was heavy and my eyes filled up with tears. It was at that moment that I realized why I wasn’t afraid to say anything or to “protect them.” This could have been my nephews Christiaan and Nicholas having fun with their friends.
My peoples, as we move in the spirit of MLK, let us think about our young men of color who need our support, guidance, wisdom and love. Let us all be a part of the solution. We want to see them graduate from high school and attend college. We want to see them standing strong and speaking their truth.
They are our future and on Tuesday, this special group of beautiful young men made me believe, that their future will be bright.
“Faith is taking the first step when you don’t see the whole staircase." MLK
In the light of justice,
Yvette
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