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Black Power is a bi-weekly editorial column that explores how the Black community can use their collective power to design a new America.

In America, when kids enter elementary school, one patriotic ritual is required. Students are expected to stand tall, place a right hand over their heart, face the flag, and then proudly recite the pledge of allegiance.

While gazing innocently at the stars and stripes that signify our national banner, kids of every color proceed to utter the words of a tagline deeply woven into the fabric of this country: One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Yet, the irony of such a command is that while it is mandatory for each student to make this declaration, it is not mandatory for the nation to honor this promise in return. Or, to quote the brilliant Black intellectual James Baldwin, It comes as a great shock...to discover that the flag to which you have pledged allegiance...has not pledged allegiance to you.

While the fight for a reformed legal system dates back several decades, the notion of justice lost nearly every ounce of credibility amongst Black Americans within the past three years. Since the tragic shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old unarmed Black boy senselessly killed while walking through a suburban Florida neighborhood, a haunting nostalgia of racism and systematic injustice forcefully positioned itself at the forefront of peoples minds.

His image was made strikingly clear: Trayvon was as a Black teen of semi-athletic stature, wearing a dark hoodie, carrying a pack of skittles. Yet, if you take a second glance over that depiction, you quickly realize the description, which spread virally and stirred endless debate, was not very clear at all. Especially because his appearance was presented by both police and the public as criteria used to classify Trayvon as a threat to George Zimmerman, the shooter, who claimed to kill Martin in self-defense after feeling endangered by the suspicious looking teenager.

As the long-awaited verdict inched closer, hopes were high for the Martin family and their supporters, though the results remained uncertain. The evidence appeared unconvincing. The applied motive appeared desperate. The action showed signs of a cowardly defense to an untreated ignorance.

Despite the perceivable optics following a formal trial, intense protests, nationwide marches, televised rallies and federal petitions to convict Zimmerman of murder Martins killer was ultimately acquitted of all charges. Thus, adding fuel to an ever-burning fire that continues engulfing the belief in a fractured justice system.

Following the fatal shooting of Mike Brown, the city of Ferguson became a treacherous battleground for militarized police waging war against passionate protesters standing in defense of a declared injustice.

For months, tear gas and bullets flew, businesses were destroyed, and emotional screams flooded smoke-filled skies. Headlines recounted the arrests of everyone from scholars and journalists to kids and demonstrators. Some spent hours in jail, while others spent several weeks.

As tensions grew, the Missouri city issued a No-Fly Zone for the media to limit coverage of the happenings, likely resulting from real-time accounts of officers forcefully occupying and evacuating areas where hundreds relentlessly rallied for one arrest to be made.

Unsettling footage quickly surfaced of the deceased teenager lying in the street, face down, entrenched in his own blood with multiple gunshot wounds. His body became a public display for members of the community to witness another promising kid gone too soon.

Since the video went viral, a series of debates immediately ensued. On one side, there were questions as to the motive behind shooting Brown why he was shot instead of apprehended, and analyzing the protocol of a trained officer in such a situation. On the other side, there were questions surrounding the personal character of Brown if he was indeed a thief, marijuana abuser and troubled student.

Police accounts of the scuffle between Brown and Darren Wilson positioned the unarmed teen as the aggressor, attacking Wilson in his cruiser, giving the officer no option but to discharge his weapon in self-defense. While more statements were released and speculation persisted, the most important conversation remained locked in a vault protected by the principles of privilege and history. There was an evident, although unspoken, reason Brown was instantly labeled a threat, which is the same reason Wilson was not, and was ultimately acquitted for the killing.

For many, white privilege is merely a myth. Hearing it discussed amongst distinguished intellectuals and scholars is often interpreted as reactive speech to somewhat prehistoric realities of racism. Instead of enhancing the universal perspective of injustice and inequality, the attempts to elevate awareness land as misinformed lectures void of applicable lessons. Consequently, a substantial percentage of the population classifies dialogue about white privilege as imaginary and irrelevant, finding no merit in addressing an ideology that seemingly has no tangible traits.

Instead, we revel in the countless advancements in technology that seamlessly connect cultures and cause racial lines to appear less visible. Emerging generations are praised for identifying with shared interests and values instead of skin color. The appointment of Barack Obama perceivably showed that achievement is not an impossible aspiration for anyone, regardless of race. The global dominance of hip hop culture has led to people from all walks of life uttering the realities of Black America while mirroring the lifestyle, speaking the language and embodying the aspirational spirit.

The growing list of Black moguls paints a picture of wealth and access that young Black men and women feel is possible to acquire in their lifetime. All things considered, tremendous strides have been made. Yet, when examining the critical categories that still dictate the value of a Black life in this country, very few things have changed. For context, lets examine two notable examples of exercised politics and privilege that produced similar outcomes.

The Bloods and Crips, referred to as two of todays most notorious gangs, are largely credited for the demise of Americas inner cities. Theyve been commonly pinned as criminalized cliques that rob, steal and murder senselessly. However, while exiled as dangerous and misguided kids from abandoned communities, these once powerful alliances were initially birthed out of the need to protect and preserve the human rights of Black Americans.

In a time when predominantly Black neighborhoods were subject to frequent ambushing from ill-intended whites, gangs formed as proactive solutions to defend against unlawful attacks because the police refused to patrol their blocks. It wasnt until countless factories closed down and drugs took centerstage in conjunction with the White Flight Movement, referring to the mass relocation of whites from inner cities to suburban areas, that the perception and function of street gangs shifted.

The same state government that honored these groups for their service to the community suddenly stripped their distinction. There was no longer a direct adversary to fight. Rather, in the face of rapid unemployment and socioeconomic disparity, Black people began seeing each other as the enemy. Lacking resources and access to equal opportunity, poverty prevailed. As a result, the privileged escaped the grasp of turmoil while further avoiding accountability for their part in causing a socioeconomic plague.

In the prime of the 1960s, during an era of heightened solidarity amongst civil rights groups such as The Black Panther Party, issues of inequality surrounding education, employment, and the judicial treatment of Black Americans were approached with diligent action. These organizations developed independent programs for kids to receive proper schooling, healthcare, food, shelter and other essentials inaccessible to underprivileged Blacks. Exercising their constitutional rights, they spoke out against evident injustice, while rightfully bearing arms.

Yet, instead of state officials working in unison to develop necessary reform or negotiate proposed plans to provide equal rights, these groups were declared domestic terrorists. The active police chief of the Los Angeles Police Department enforced an official mandate to arrest, imprison and subsequently inflict violent force to exterminate all incompliant Black Americans who refused to follow the principles of privilege.

More notably, the standing police chief intentionally recruited members of the Ku Klux Klan from southern states, along with active military serviceman and trained veterans. Their armor and weapons were upgraded with military tactics implemented to govern designated cities.

Though decades ago, the same framework exists today in a climate that has seen a multitude of innocent Black people killed.

Since the Civil Rights Movement, it has indeed been a long walk to freedom. For African Americans, achieving justice is a gruelingly tiresome and treacherous uphill conquest that continues testing the seemingly unbreakable endurance of a people frequently denied equal rights at the expense of further suffering from the residual effects of a hate-driven history.

As more races and cultures blend, the perception of privilege gets lost in translation, becoming associated strictly with wealth and opportunity, steering away from its role in perpetuating racism. As rap reaches even greater heights, its images of inner city struggle, crime and violence serve as just reasoning for racial profiling and the disparities in mass incarceration.

Justice blesses the rich, honors the privileged, and unflinchingly punishes the poor. Its built on age-old principles that stem from slavery, very slightly deviating from such separatist ideals. Weve watched as George Floyd, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Mike Brown, Jordan Davis, Breonna Taylor, and many other innocent victims lose their lives at the hands of inexcusable negligence and violent force. Once again families torn, races divided and our nations justice system fails to uphold its pledge of allegiance.

As a result, despair and disappointment have plagued the Black community so much that Black pain has become commonplace in the press. Seeing endless tears fall from the face of a terrified mother now stands as a signature shot circulating on daily news headlines.

Lets check the track record. When turmoil strikes subjugated communities in traditionally segregated cities across America, we point to disparities in access and resources. When young Black people find their identity in a lifestyle of criminal activity out of the inherent desire to feed their family, we point to messages in music and the outcomes of gang life. But, we classify this as a fault of misguidance and stupidity, not privilege. Or, when unarmed Black people are killed by trained police officers, we point to prejudices of threat and Black rage. But, we consider this the fault of Black America, not the mechanics of racism in America. Yet, what the vast majority fails or refuses to realize is that privilege is not a physical battle of Black against white, its a socioeconomic and ideological war of politics and power.

What the deaths of Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin taught America about justice is that it doesnt exist. Not for all. Not the justice that rightfully protects Black people who were killed by law enforcement on video. Not the justice that acknowledges the atrocities that accompanies a police officer killing an unarmed 12-year-old boy. Not the justice that takes into account the influence of classism and privilege, as it relates to prejudice and discrimination.

As a people, we have to define what justice is for ourselves and stand firmly on that understanding. We must keep working to establish a system that takes into account moral principles, not conservative religious principles. We must activate our power and influence to put people in political positions that can reshape the current infrastructure with a vision for evolving America into a country where every perspective counts. We must humbly invest in educating people about the multifaceted Black experience, staying authentic and showing the progressive images that are often intentionally overlooked.

Until we refresh our outlook, the illusion of justice will continue casting a looming dark cloud over the promise and potential of Black America.

As long as the scales of justice are imbalanced, the next Mike Brown or Trayvon Martin can make millions in the NBA or start a billion-dollar tech company, but can just as easily end up dead or in jail, while the next Darren Wilson will be empowered to determine the ending to his story more importantly being alive to tell it.

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What the killings of Mike Brown and Trayvon Martin taught America about the fight for justice - REVOLT TV

Sybrina Fulton, political activist and mother of the late Trayvon Martin, will speak to University of Miami students at 6 p.m. on Oct. 8. in the virtual fifth installment of What Matters to U, a discussion series hosted by UMs Student Government.

We wanted to bring someone that would really highlight whats been happening in the world, someone who would be able to adequately address those social issues, said Spencer Schwartz, the chair for The What Matters to U Agency, formerly known as the Student Engagement Programming Agency.

Past speakers have included former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, two-time world cup champion and co-captain of the U.S. Womens National Soccer Team Megan Rapinoe, actor and comedian Ken Jeong and television personality and scientist Bill Nye.

Schwartz says that UMs Student Government made a concerted effort to address issues such as the Black Lives Matter movement and other platforms for social change.

I was floored when I heard, said Student Government president Abigail Adeleke. This is the exact speaker we need at this time, especially with so many things happening and the third rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. I am just so excited.

Fulton has spent the years since her sons death campaigning for political reform and against gun violence.

Most recently, Fulton lost a bid to be elected Miami-Dade commissioner to Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert. He won the the Aug. 18. election by less than one percent with 331 votes.

Fulton, who was endorsed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Cory Booker, has been a social activist since her son Trayvon Martin, who was born in Miami, was killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in February, 2012. Zimmerman was later acquitted as the jury ruled the killing an act of self defense. At the time, the event sparked national protests, discussions about race and was one of the earliest deaths that have become driving forces of the Black Lives Matter movement.

One of the things that started and invigorated the Black Lives Matter movement was the death of Trayvon Martin, Adeleke said. She was almost the mother of the movement.

A month after her sons death, Fulton started The Trayvon Martin Foundation, an organization that seeks to provide emotional and financial support to families who have lost a child to gun violence, according to the Foundations website.

The What Matters to U agency faced criticism last year when they brought in Republican governor and 2016 presidential candidate John Kasich, however, Schwartz says that starting conversation and debate is part of the organizations goal.

I know that the John Kasich event and this event may seem, politically, to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, Schwartz said. From our perspective, theyre actually quite similar in that they are people that have a mission, that have a vision for the country, and we are solely just the avenue they are using to spread that.

Adeleke says political optics never entered into the decision.

This is so important right now, its not a left or a right issue. Its a human rights issue, she said. It was a no brainer because we knew this was the right thing.

Although Fulton will not be speaking to a packed auditorium like past speakers because of COVID restrictions, Adeleke emphasizes the presentation will not be presented as a typical online talk.

Were doing something very different from your traditional Zoom webinar, she said. Although Adeleke is not able to reveal the details of the plan yet, she says that it will be a unique experience. It will be something we have never seen before.

Featured image provided by What Matters To U.

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Sybrina Fulton announced as What Matters to U speaker - The Miami Hurricane

The Black Lives Matter movement first arose in the aftermath of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed 17-year-old Martin in an Orlando suburb in 2012. This year, the movement grew to involve people in every city in the country, fueled by the furor over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Of course, the fight for equal rights and treatment for Black Americans has been waged for centuries, and todays activists are building on the accomplishments of countless civil rights leaders of past generations. Then and now, New York has been home to many of the most prominent Black individuals who have taken up the cause.

Today, City & States Black 100 list, created in partnership with Stephon Johnson of the New York Amsterdam News, recognizes many of the Black New Yorkers who are making a difference in politics legislators championing criminal justice reforms, groundbreaking candidates for elected office, advocates and policymakers evening the playing field, and, of course, the activists who have taken to the streets in recent months to stand up for their rights.

Assembly Speaker

Silence is golden a maxim Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has long adhered to wlohile working to further the Democratic agenda. The Bronx lawmakers largely successful tenure includes this years package of police reform bills the biggest noncoronavirus story of the year, which put Heastie, the first Black leader of the chamber, in a spotlight that he largely seeks to avoid.

State Senate Majority Leader

Rent regulation. Reproductive rights. Bail reform. Protecting the states LGBTQ community. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the first Black woman to serve as the state Senate majority leader, is making sure the voiceless have a voice and that no New Yorkers are left out when it comes to policy. And while there were concerns early on that Republicans might win back a few seats this fall, theres now a chance that her conference secures a veto-proof supermajority.

State Attorney General

Letitia James spent 2020 battling two of Americas most powerful and polarizing names: Donald Trump and the National Rifle Association. She sued the Trump administration for policy reversals that threatened to deport international students and moved to force the Trump Organization to comply with an investigation into its financial dealings. Shes also suing to dissolve the NRA after accusing the organization of financing illegal activities.

Chair,House Democratic Caucus

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries continues to vocally oppose President Donald Trump, despite failing to oust him from office through impeachment. Last year, the Brooklynite introduced bills targeting police brutality a prescient focus given the spate of high-profile police killings this year. The fifth-ranking Democrat in the House and a key member of House leadership, he is a valued voice in battling against the conservative agenda.

Brooklyn Borough President

Whether speaking out against police brutality or gentrification, Brooklyn Borough President and New York City mayoral hopeful Eric Adams makes sure his voice is heard. But he also courted controversy this year when he said hed be a law-and-order type of mayor who would eschew a security detail by carrying a gun himself an early salvo in what promises to be a contentious campaign.

New York City Public Advocate

Jumaane Williams has made a name for himself in 2020 as a fierce critic of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. He expressed disappointment over how the mayor handled anti-police brutality and anti-racism protests, filed an opposition to law enforcement unions efforts to block the repeal of 50-a and backed teachers on a possible strike before the mayor pushed back the beginning of the school year.

Assembly Majority Leader

Last year, Crystal Peoples-Stokes pushed for marijuana legalization and helped pass legislation that gave tax breaks to senior homeowners with limited income. This year, the Assembly majority leader advocated for attacking the COVID-19 pandemic head on, addressing racial conflict and confronting the states economic troubles. She also helped pass legislation providing aid to her hometown of Buffalo to strengthen commercial districts via repairs and other kinds of enhancements.

President,1199 SEIU

1199 SEIU President George Greshams advocacy for frontline workers many of whom are Black and brown cannot be ignored. Hes called out private, for-profit nursing homes for not providing essential workers with enough personal protective equipment during the pandemic, fought against possible layoffs of workers at other nursing facilities, and chastised state Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker for doubting that health care workers were short on PPE.

Founder and President,National Action Network

When talking about activism and politics, its usually not long before Rev. Al Sharptons name comes up. Fighting for social justice and against President Donald Trump is all in a days work for Sharpton. The rise of the Black Lives Matter movement saw Sharpton take on a prominent role, lending his gravitas and voice to the era-defining protests, as exemplified by his impassioned eulogy at George Floyds funeral.

New York City First Lady

Chirlane McCray isnt just the first lady of New York City shes also one of the most trusted advisers to her spouse, Mayor Bill de Blasio. And while the de Blasio administration is facing an array of challenges and only has 15 months left to carry out its goals, McCray is well-positioned for a potential run for Brooklyn borough president, which could keep the boroughs leading power couple in power.

Originally posted here:
The Power of Diversity: Black 100 | CSNY - City & State

GALESBURG Fred Britton Jr. received a warning from his father one day in the fall of 2005.

His father, Fred Britton Sr., had worked 32 years for the Galesburg Street Department and countless hours maintaining his house and yard. But by the time he called his son that day, he was using a walker after spending the past 14 years on dialysis. His health was failing, and he had a message to give his his eldest son while he was still able.

He called me to come over to his house and said I need to talk to you., recalls Britton Jr. As soon as he called, I said Im on my way. And I went.

He said, I need you to pay attention. Im not going to be here to see this, but the worlds about to go through a change, Britton Jr. remembers his father saying.

Minorities have been in the pressure cooker all our lives, Britton Sr. explained to his son. The white people are gonna start going through what were going through and they wont be able to handle it.

Britton Jr. said his dad was referring to white people losing their jobs in a changing economy.

Theres going to be a shift, he said. Youre gonna start seeing Blacks speak up.

Theres gonna be certain people who arent going to be able to deal with that, Britton Sr. told his son. Innocent people are going to lose their lives over skin color.

Britton Jr. said his dad wanted him to relay the message to his two younger brothers, Clay and Jon.

He was always like that. He was going to give you that wisdom for life.

Britton Jr. believes hes witnessed his fathers premonition come to pass.

Warnings became realized

Some seven years after Fred Brittons message to his son, Black teenager Trayvon Martin, who was walking in Sanford, Florida, was shot fatally by Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman. One month after the shooting, rallies took place in cities across the country protesting the killing and the police departments handling of the case. Black people were speaking out.

Travyon Martin was a kid, Britton Jr. said. The police told him (Zimmerman) to stand down and he pulled a gun out on him (Trayvon).

On July 13, 2013, Zimmerman, charged with second degree murder, was acquitted. That verdict helped spur the Black Lives Matter movement. According to Pew Research Group, the first use of Black Lives Matter in a Twitter hashtag was used July 13, 2013. By March 2016, the hashtag had been used 11.8 million times as use of force by police became a national topic in light of the death of African-Americans Eric Garner in New York City and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Browns death had a local connection as Knox College womens basketball player Ariyana Smith on Nov. 28, 2014, protested his death at the hands of a Ferguson Police officer. As the Star Spangled Banner played prior to Knoxs game at Fontebonne University in Clayton, Missouri, about 12 miles from Ferguson, Smith left her team and stood beneath the flag with with a raised fist. She knelt and then collapsed on the gym floor until the song was finished.

The Black community is frustrated, Britton Jr. said. When is this going to end?

The Black Lives Matter movement continued to grow, according to Pew. The hashtag blacklivesmatter was used an average of 3.7 million times per day in the week that followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 25. Videos emerged showing Floyd dying in police custody as a police officer applied pressure to Floyds neck with his knee for 8 minutes and 15 seconds.

The killing caused nationwide protests.

Theres more people speaking up, and I thank God for that, Britton Jr. said.

He said his father prepared him for lifes ugliness. He told me it was going to be like this.

Britton Jr. said he was not shaken by President Trumps response Tuesday night when he was asked to condemn white supremacists during the presidential debate.

Proud Boys, stand back and stand by, Trump eventually said.

Proud Boys, according to the USA Today, is a far-right group with a history of violent confrontations. While the group says it is not a white supremacist group, the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Proud Boys as a hate group.

I wasnt surprised, Britton Jr. said. I wasnt surprised at all.

Britton said Trump was basically saying: If I dont get what I want, Im going to light this fuse and you gonna see hell.

Was Britton angry?

Its hard to be angry about these things when you come to expect it, he said.

When you have a leader who doesnt speak on certain issues, such as police brutality against minorities, you empower white supremacists, Britton said.

On May 1, 2006, months after making his prediction to his son, Fred Britton Sr. died.

When he told me, I didnt tell a lot of people, Britton Jr. said. People werent in the mindset to deal with it. Now I talk about it all the time.

Learning his fathers rules

Britton Jr., 59, says his father helped prepare him for the world.

Youre as good as anyone, Britton Sr. told his son, but its going to be a lot harder with this Black skin.

Wearing a T-shirt that said Only God can judge me, Britton Jr. sat on his back deck Sept. 24 talking about his father and growing up in Galesburg.

He was attending Cooke School on the south side of Galesburg when the Galesburg School District started busing students. Britton Jr. and some of his neighborhood friends found themselves at Lincoln for middle school.

In Galesburg, all the busing was on the south end, he said. Half the bus to Lincoln, half to Gale (school). My first year I was the only Black student in the 4th grade.

It was a big culture shock. Im going to an area where Black people didnt go.

He remembers asking his mother, Why are they staring at us? It was the adults who were staring, remembers Britton Jr. Kids dont see color.

It was a great experience, he said but there was tension.

My father had us so prepared about how to conduct ourselves.

Britton Sr. advised his sons to keep your eyes and ears open when youre around (white people).

Also, he warned them them to be careful about who they were with.

Theres always going to be trials and tribulations in life, he told them. Be careful about who you surround yourself with.

He always taught us youre going to have to be 10 times better (than white people).

And Britton Sr. told his sons they must work hard.

By the time Britton Jr. was nearing high school graduation, he was working at a food service job at Cottage Hospital. Since then hes nearly always had a job including a stint in the Army. For the past 25 years he has worked as a food dietitian at Henry Hill Correctional Center in Galesburg.

He says his mother, Louise, and his father provided stability.

My dad was at the head of that dinner table every day. Every day. Not everybody has that structure, he said.

Britton Jr. believes many young people dont have that person at home who can prepare them for life.

I can look at certain people and tell if theyve had a structure to help them survive. Someone had to teach you how to be productive and how to adapt.

Britton Jr. has tried to impart his fathers lessons to his son, Jaylen, and daughter, Asia.

"I told my kids, I want you to see the real world.

Theyre grown and have moved away: Asia to Springfield, Illinois, and Jaylen to Springfield, Missouri. He and his wife, Christine, divorced, and Britton Jr. is engaged to Grace Loveless.

Pulled over by a state trooper

The real world still means watching what you say and how you say it.

At 6 p.m. one night in January, Britton Jr. was driving from Galesburg to Good Hope to buy some tables. His fiances father, David Parker, was along to help load them in Britton Jr.s Honda Ridgeline.

As they were traveling south on U.S. Route 67 they passed an Illinois State Police car in the median. Britton Jr. said he was driving right at 65 mph, yet the state trooper pulled him over.

Britton Jr. knew to keep his hands visible, his license and insurance ready. He also slipped off the hoody sweatshirt he was wearing.

Britton Jr. noticed the officer shining a flashlight at the rear license plate as he walked to the drivers window.

The officer told him the letter B designating the license plate for a Class B vehicle was not visible on Britton Jr.s back plate. Road salt had eroded the letter Briton Jr. later discovered. He checked with local the drivers facility to find its fairly common occurrence for truck plates.

Because it was dark, Britton Jr. wondered whether the B would have been visible from the median anyway.

The trooper asked Britton Jr. where he was going. Then he asked where he was coming from.

I said, Henry Hill.

He said, I dont know where thats at.

How would a state trooper not know about the prison? Britton Jr. wondered. The state police are the law enforcement that respond to incidents at the prison.

I dont want to antagonize this man, explains Britton Jr.

The officer asked for Britton Jr.s drivers license and proof of insurance.

Then the officer asked for his prison ID.

Im sitting there in my uniform (from Henry Hill) with a badge. Im a state worker, Britton Jr. says, exasperated, as he tells the story.

I dont think he would ask anyone else that question.

Then the officer asked for Parkers identification.

I was worried about whether I would get maced, shot or drugs put in the vehicle, Britton Jr. said.

However, Britton Jr. was eventually allowed to go on his way.

Britton Jr. said his vehicle had the kind of sporty rims that a lot of gangbangers and drug dealers use. That could have been the reason he was pulled over. He thinks maybe the officer profiled him and thought he was transporting drugs.

I dont do anything illegal, he said.

But Britton Jr. knew not to question the trooper.

I was prepared. I know how to deescalate the situation. How you talk to people will change things. Theres a certain game you have to play in order to survive.

Not saying all police are bad. Not all are good. You better respect that position of authority or youre going to have some drama, he said.

To someday fly the flag

Britton Jr. takes pride in keeping his yard neat along Fremont Street. Its another thing he picked up from his father.

In Brittons backyard he has installed a decorative bell on a pole and an old fashioned water pump with handle. But, as he points out, he doesnt fly the American flag.

What the flag stands for is a beautiful thing, he said. But I dont feel 100% American. America hasnt been very patriotic to all groups of people.

I pray to God one day Ill be able to have one (an American flag), when everybody is treated equally.

Does Britton Jr. think that will happen in his lifetime?

He says he had never expected to see a Black president in his lifetime and that happened in 2008 and 2012 with Barack Obama.

If I live long enough I think I have a chance to see that (equality) now. The world is changing.

Theyre knocking down slavery statues, he said, mentioning the Stephen Douglas statue that was removed last week from the Illinois Capitol grounds because Douglas had owned slaves.

Beyond that, he says more and more people are of mixed race and that aspect alone will continue erode the racism of the past.

You never know whos going to be entering your family.

An equal world would look like heaven, Britton Jr. says.

Heaven is not segregated.

Love is going to win out in the long run.

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Fred Britton Jr. says his ailing father warned him in 2005 about racial strife we are seeing now - Monmouth Daily Review Atlas

Being a black woman, I am very afraid. I am afraid that in my future I will never get to see an unjustifiable killing by a police officer, with the officer behind bars. I am afraid that fifteen years from now, I will have to tell my children to be afraid of the people who are paid to protect you. I am afraid that black lives will never matter.

On July 13, 2013, that was the day I understood the injustices that African-Americans face. I was sitting at the hair salon, preparing for my dads union with his wife. Being 13 I was aware of racism and some of the social problems that I faced as an African-American. I knew that we were once slaves, then we were freed by Abraham Lincoln and that the Civil Rights movement was supposed to make us equal. What I did not know is that 7 years later, I would understand that we are not really free and are not really equal.

While I was preparing to finally accept my new dads new life with his wife, most Americans across the world were awaiting to accept the verdict of murder. You may not remember the day, but do you recall the name? His name was Trayvon Martin, and his murderer is George Zimmerman.

Now this was not a killing by a police officer, but this is one of the first cases that started the trail of injustice for African-American men and women. A year later from a jury finding Zimmerman not guilty after shooting unarmed Trayvon, Eric Garner let out his last words of I cant breathe as a police officer holds him in a choke hold. Then less than a month later, people in Ferguson protested for Michael Brown and many others unarmed and murdered by the police. Five years later Garners killer, Daniel Pantaleo, was never charged or convicted, just stripped of his badge and commission. Darren Wilson, the officer who killed Brown, was exonerated.

The trend of this type of injustice continued for years after these cases and even decades before these cases. I hope we have not forgotten the verdict of Rodney King caused the LA riots. In the year 2020 it was the killing of George Floyd and the acquittal of Breonna Taylor when I learned to fear injustice. Across everyones screens we watched Floyd lose his last breath, under the knee of a police officer. His killers were not arrested or charged until riots and protests waved across America. We saw Breonnas family mourn her death after wrongfully being killed in a raid.

With all these chants of Black lives matter! No Justice No Peace! and the repeated stress that the police are using excessive force we have yet to see justice for any of these stolen lives. You would think the system could see the unfair treatment of the African-American community, but yet no convictions. I feel the fear of injustice flash before me every time I see a badge and flashing lights. We dont deserve to be afraid anymore, we deserve to be free.

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COLUMN: The Fear of Injustice The Parthenon - MU The Parthenon