WALKING DOGS WHILE BLACK & AVA DUVERNAY

So the other day, June 29, 2019, to be exact,  I was dog sitting for friends on the upper west side of Manhattan.  I adore watching and hanging with my Zander and Greta, as well as their visiting dog friend, Owen.  As we were in the middle of our bedtime walk, in which it is encouraged that all canines make an effort to completely empty themselves, an NYPD car slowly pulled up near me and stopped. I felt myself freeze, as a wave of panic INSTANTLY began to climb up from my feet to the top of my head. Why? Because I had 3 leashes in my hands attached to 3 very adorable, yet boisterous dogs, and I could not get my cell phone out fast enough, or easily establish why I was on the upper west side of Manhattan at 10:30pm.  You can see my dilemma.

Out with the Babies From L to R; Greta, Owen, and Zander. 

I was sickened because on that dimly lit street on W104th  between West End and Riverside, my over 50, big, black, latino, gay ass could have been a headline. Just like that, the fear paralyzed me.  One minute I am out walking my fabulous friends’ dogs, living my full UWS fantasy, and the next minute, I am almost peeing my pants for fear of unnecessary police harassment and potential homicide.  

The cop then informed me that a woman complained that she had an argument with a man with 3 dogs.  I said let me guess, “he’s a large black man in a plaid shirt walking 3 dogs? How interesting?” He then assured me that was the actual complaint.  I then said, “I find it interesting that I have walked these dogs in this neighborhood for over 2 years and have managed to speak to no one, much less have an argument with someone.” I Asked, “since when did having an argument with someone mean the police were called?”  Of course, all of this was in the most articulate ‘I- have-an-education-and-you-will-have-to-answer-to-SOMEBODY-if-you-shoot-me-on-these-streets’ tone, also known as my customer service voice. 

Just lounging at the Savoy from L. to R. with Greta, Zander, and Owen.

As a rule, I don’t generally make eye contact with people when I am alone in those parts of Manhattan, because I know that even in 2019 New York City, there is a BBQ Becky awaiting her moment to pounce and ruin many a black person’s day.  My many years of living in Texas taught me how to navigate those kind of waters. I know that I should not have to navigate anything with that fear, but it did keep me calm enough to not push what is certainly my right as a free citizen of AMERICA to be able to ask a question of authority.  Thank God, Allah, Buddha, Yahweh, and whoever else aided in helping me walk away physically unscathed. Mentally, I am still thinking about it. 

When I retold the story to one of my coworkers, she asked me if I had ever had a run in with the police before this moment.  Only in that instance did I recall a moment in Galveston, Texas, in the Summer of 1978. I was hanging with my two friends, Chris and Randall, both of whom are white.  We were out with bikes and firecrackers. I was riding on a homemade bike that Randall’s grandfather had made. It was not registered. When the police stopped us, I asked what exactly had we done?  The officer took me in for being a smart ass, because the bike that I was riding was not a recognizable bike, and clearly my question was too sassy for him. He accused me of stealing the bike. Of course, when my mother entered the police station, she slapped the hell out of me for creating this situation because of my “smart mouth”.  Thank God Randall’s grandfather was a decent man, who had had a relationship of sorts with some of the police officers, and they eventually took his word for it and ultimately released me. 

This was Texas in 1978. No social media, no body cams, just a white police officer with something to prove to an intelligent, questioning 11 year old black kid.  How quickly could I have ended up in a juvenile detention center for asking exactly what I had done? With a few years under my belt, I now see that my life could have gone a whole other direction because of one police officer’s bias.  I guess that is one of the reasons that I had an overwhelming subconscious hit of uneasiness. 

Feeding Frenzy with the babies L to R: Owen,  Greta, Zander. 

That “Walking Dogs While Black” moment in my life finally prompted me to quickly watch Ava DuVernay’s Limited Series on Netflix, WHEN THEY SEE US.

Ok, I will admit that one of the reasons that it took me so long to get on the bandwagon was because I don’t have Netflix (shoutout to my friends with access), and the other reason: I honestly did not think that I could sit through it.  I resisted every moment of conversation with everyone that I knew who had seen it. I feel like whenever something new comes around that features folks of color being oppressed, beaten, and abused, it is a turn off for me. To visually relive some of the atrocities of the black experience on large or small screen, while many white film reviewers are telling ME that I NEED to see these films,  is still a hard thing for me. I am still shell shocked from 12 YEARS A SLAVE and still mad about THE HELP.  

As we all continue to scream for diversity and representation in front of and behind the camera, on and off stage, I asked myself did those films change my mind about ever wanting to see another film about black people being mistreated again? Not really, but maybe major studios will get behind projects like 12 YEARS A SLAVE and THE HELP, because they cast people of color in a light that is not the most positive.  By the end of the film, a white person saves the day, or does their best among their peers to “change minds.” Considering ALL of these problems historically started by melanin deficient people, I assume in their minds that it does make sense that only they can save the day. As much as I loved BLACK PANTHER, can we admit that film still faces a lot of backlash, shade, and hatred, and it was a freaking BLOCKBUSTER?!  In an interview that I did with Tony and Emmy Award winning, Leslie Uggams. She told me that when Alex Haley’s ROOTS made that historical moment for Black Americans in TV, the ABC executives decided to roll the show out over a week, because they just wanted to get it over and out. Their racist attitudes actually backfired, and created a legacy moment. That broadcast happened a year after my first encounter with the police. 

From L to R: Raymond Santana Jr., Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise, Ava DuVernay, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam

While watching Ms. DuVernay’s reexamination of that time through the eyes of  Kevin Richardson, Antron Mccray, Raymond Santana Jr., Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam, I was transfixed and heartbroken.  The idea that these young men’s lives, before cell phones and social media, were stolen from them simply because of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, politics, and most definitely racism, is devastating. 

It was April of 1989, and those young men faced the unthinkable at the hands of an overzealous police department and prosecution team, during a racially tense time in America, especially New York. Many machinations involved in how these young men were prosecuted,  and the vitriol that was drummed up because of people like Donald Trump (who has still not apologized for demanding that these kids get the death penalty), and the very clear intent of Linda Fairstein (do not think the irony of her last name is lost on me) have now ALL been exposed in the most undeniable way. The prosecution team and those cops that perpetrated this evil will have to pay sometime in their lives, and social media has already gotten to Ms. Fairstein ,#CancelLindaFairstein, and perhaps more will come.   

NYC Assistant District Attorney, Linda Fairstein, and WHEN THEY SEE US director, Ava DuVernay.

WHEN THEY SEE US managed to grab and shake me to understand that 2019 is not that different than 1989. My recent experience with New York’s finest reminded me of that very quickly.  I know that there are some amazing people who are police officers, detectives, lieutenants, captains, etc., but it’s the ones who are not amazing and hide their racism and contempt for people of color that make them all look bad.  Just like the BBQ Beckys and their friends make the cool white people that we know are in the world look terrible. Of course in EVERY group, there is always someone that will ruin it for everybody, and it leaves us all just shaking our heads.  

Ms. DuVernay gave a great summation of the entire experience in an interview with Oprah quoted in this VOX: artice: Ms. DuVernay explained her mission...“Our real goal is to be able to say, ‘Go America! Let’s do this, let’s change this.’ And you can’t change what you don’t know,” she said. “So we came and showed you what you may not know. And now that you know, what will you do?”  

Oddly enough, I don’t know what the answer is.  I do know that racism and prejudice are America’s Achilles Heel.  The world will be able to continue to exploit us on so many levels until we finally figure it out, and in the interim, we will continue to destroy each other until we just stop and do better. One of my mother’s friends used to say that whatever is done in the dark, eventually comes to the light.  Thank you Ava DuVernay for being that light for many of us. And to Kevin Richardson, Antron Mccray, Raymond Santana Jr., Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam, no money or publicity, will ever erase what happened to you. I am just glad that you have made it to the other side, and I look forward to watching you reclaim your lives and thrive.