In Our Corner: Balancing in America: The Illusion of Whiteness and Realness of Blackness

“Our hope is we can put this unfortunate case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’ behind us and continue to represent the community that we serve.”

–        Statement by Lansing Police Department (08.13.23) following a police officer unholstering his weapon, detaining, and handcuffing 12-year-old black boy who the police misidentified as an adult suspected of car thefts. The 12-year-old boy was in the process of taking out the trash to the dumpster when accosted by the police.

My Dear Readers,

Recently, I received a strong rebuke from a mental health colleague, suggesting I was being naïve in comparing Jim Crow of the 1940’s to the present days of 2023. The colleague John Genovese psychotherapist wrote:

“America has a bitter history of oppressing persons of African, First Nations, Hispanic, Asian, and Southern European heritage. We are also a nation that continues to evolve, sometimes in [the] wrong directions and many times on the right path. That we have legal protections of speech and free assembly [and] a Constitution that is adaptable and expandable are examples of this right path. It is the means by which slavery was abolished and formerly disenfranchised citizens were eventually granted voting, employment, and housing rights. While it is naïve to believe that all vestiges of racism and economic oppression have been eliminated, it is equally naïve to think that we are the same Jim Crow society of the 1940’s. No, America is not a disgrace. It is, as [with] all human endeavors, imperfect. It is a work in progress. And what we need right now is unity, not division.”

Several months ago, while traveling in Eastern Europe, I wrote a series of blogs in which I examined James Baldwin’s worldly acclaimed book, The Fire Next Time, 1963.  In his book, Baldwin focused on the life experiences for Negroes in 1963, contrasting their lives with the Colored population during the Jim Crow era of the 1940’s. 

In my six-segment blog, “The Perilous Journey”, I sought to understand and compare the differences in the treatment of the Coloreds of the 1940’s, the Negros of the 1960’s, and the African Americans of today and realized that Jim Crow was alive and doing very well in 2023.

In my most recent blog posting In Our Corner: Growing Up Black and Male, Wrong Place, Wrong Time, which focused on the racial profiling and misidentification of a 12-year-old black boy. He was in the process of taking out the trash and was accosted by the police with drawn firearms, handcuffed, and detained, traumatizing the child in the process. 

I spoke of The Illusion of Whiteness & The Realness of Blackness and the understanding that both groups reside on the same planet, are citizens in the same country, and yet reside in two separate consciousness.

Illusion of Whiteness

There is an illusion of whiteness in America.  An illusion is something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality. There is an illusion that black people enjoyed the same rights of free speech and the right of assembly.  There is the false and misleading impression of disenfranchised citizens eventually being granted voting, employment, and housing rights, there is the illusion that “America is in progress”.

Realness of Blackness

There is a realness of blackness in America.  Realness is described as the fact or quality of being real, reality, truth.  There is the realness that black people in America are responding to 403 years of racism, discrimination, and oppression. There is a realness that black people understand. That white people live in fear of black people, particularly black males, that results in profiling and targeting of these individuals. This reality of black people results in psychological distress, hyperawareness, and tension as the community becomes strained and overwhelmed while they seek to protect their children, in particular, males.

There is the realness of blackness when white fear causes the restriction of blacks from access to voting, employment, and housing. There is the realness of blackness that white America abolished one form of slavery only to create another in the form of incarceration. Particularly of black males. This act has similar psychological impacts on children and families as seen in slavery times when parents were forcibly separated from their children. Finally, in returning to the “understanding that both groups reside on the same planet, are citizens in the same country and yet reside in two separate consciousnesses”,there is a polarizing difference in how both communities view the police.  The illusion of whiteness is the desire to view the police as “protectors” acting in the supportive role of community policing.  This directly opposes the experience of the realness of blackness. The history of policing began as slave patrols. These slave patrols utilized racial profiling and misidentification against black males. These similar tactics and actions today by the police serve to create psychological distress reinforcing the inability to protect oneself or one’s children.  

Concluding Words

“While it is naïve to believe that all vestiges of racism and economic oppression have been eliminated, it is equally naïve to think that we are the same Jim Crow society of the 1940.’s.”

–        John Genovese, LPC Psychotherapist.

This quote affirms the illusions of whiteness in America which is in direct opposition of the realness and the experiences of Blackness in America.  This quote is disturbing as it is being made by a mental health professional specializing in PTSD treatment.  It provides worthy concern that black people seeking mental health treatment interview prospective therapists questioning not only their experiences working with members of the African American community but also their belief systems and the foundations of their personally held views.

There is a realness in the blackness of America of balancing the illusions held by others and holding one’s breath, awaiting the next shocking media development or announcement psychologically impacting and traumatizing a hyperaware and hypersensitive community.  Yes, as indicated in the statement by John Genovese the psychotherapist, there are “legal protections of speech and free assembly, a Constitution that is adaptable and expandable”. However, the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee of “protection from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government” means very little, when a Black parent lives in fear of sending one’s male child out to do a simple household task; the fear that the child will be misidentified and killed by the police.

 The First Amendment’s guarantee of the “right of the people peacefully to assemble” means very little when a Black parent lives with the fear that their child will be racially profiled by the police.  Such awareness must be communicated to the child to keep them safe if they are detained by the police.  

Lastly, the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances” means very little, following repeated attempts by the black community through its leaders and parents to the government to address the concerns of racial profiling and misidentification of black males.  With the resulting grievances and responses being silence or apologies such as the recent incident where the 12-year-old was handcuffed and detained while taking out the trash, police chief stated,

“As the chief of police, I want to apologize that this incident has such an effect on this young man and his family.”

–        Police Chief Soebee, Lansing Police Department

Noted in the apology is the repeated misidentification of the 12-year-old boy as a “young man”. Clearly as this misidentification is coming from the leadership of the policing authority, the same message of misidentification is being communicated and reinforced to those working under his leadership.  The resulting view of realness in blackness, our children, particularly our males remain at risk from those who seek to “enforce the law” under the cover of “community policing.”

The realness of blackness as to the perception of helplessness in protecting our children particularly males extends in other domains as well. Recently, a black adolescent in Jefferson Parrish School District, LA was psychologically traumatized while attending a classroom viewing when a virtual screening of a brown stick figure hanging from a noose with a racial slur (ni**er) with his name attached. (08.12.23)

The response from the Jefferson School District?  An apology.

In closing, I want to respond to my colleague’s illusions of whiteness in his closing quote, Mr. Genovese stated:

“No, America is not a disgrace. It is, as all human endeavors, imperfect. It is a work in progress. And what we need right now is unity, not division.”

I recently saw the following quote in a LinkedIn posting:

“I want them to have everything that I have.  I want God to bless them as much as he blesses me, but Pastor, I just can’t be in the same room with them.  It just bothers me.”

– Uncredited

The truthfulness and honesty of this statement affirms the illusion to pretend that America is not a disgrace.  In the realness of black people, America has been a “work in progress” for 403 years.  What we have is division and as long as whiteness resides in a state of illusion, such illusion will prevent unity and continue to result in division.

In recalling the words of James Baldwin:

“The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them.  And I mean that very seriously.  You must accept them with love.  For these innocent people have no other hope.  They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand, and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it.  They have had to believe for many years that black men are inferior to white men.’

–        James Baldwin Author, The Fire Next Time (1963)

Until the next time…

Remaining … In Our Corner.

In Our Corner: Growing Up Black and Male in America-“Wrong Place Wrong Time”.

“Our hope is we can put this unfortunate case of “wrong place, wrong time” behind us and continue to represent the community that we serve.”

–        Lansing Police Department (08.13.23) following a police officer unholstering his weapon, detaining, and handcuffing a 12-year-old black boy who the police misidentified as an adult suspected of car thefts. The 12-year-old boy was in the process of taking trash to the dumpster when accosted by the police.

“Upon review… the police chief concluded ‘the officer was respectful and professional during the child’s temporary detention’. Nevertheless, he stated ‘We understand that something like this has an impact on all parties involved.  As the chief of police, I want to apologize that this incident has such an effect on this young man and his family.”

–        Police Chief Soebee, Lansing Police Department

“They traumatized my son. Tashawn is traumatized so much that he doesn’t want to go outside anymore.”

–        Michael Bernard, father of 12-year-old who was detained and handcuffed by Lansing Police.

“Too often, Black bodies are harmed while law enforcement hides behind the phase “they fit the description.” While law enforcement calls it an “unfortunate misunderstanding,” they don’t know what kind of harm they have done to the psyche of this child, this family or the community.”

–        Whitney Alesse, Social Justice Advocate

“The family is exploring all legal options including the possibility of filing a lawsuit”, the lawyers said.”

–        Guardian Staff Writers (08.13.23)

My Dear Readers,

Recently in Lansing, MI a young 12-year-old Black boy just taking out the trash was accosted by police, held at gunpoint, handcuffed, and paraded through the parking lot while being detained and questioned regarding recent car thefts occurring in the area.  It was only after the father realized that his son had been gone for an extended period of time that he came out to see him surrounded by police officers and vehicles. 

The child was detained until it was determined that the 12-year-old boy, other than being Black, did not fit the description of the adult male suspect. At that point he was released, returned to the custody of his father and “apologies” extended for the “misidentification.”

The Illusion of Whiteness in Contemplation of Police Involvement

“No harm done…right?”  “Simple mistake, right?”  “Could have happened to anyone, right?”  “A simple misidentification, right?”  “The police were just doing their jobs, right?”  “The police have difficult jobs to do, right?”  “So, they are going to make a mistake now and then, right?” “Got to give them some room to maneuver, right?”  “The boy didn’t get hurt, right?”  “It’s not like the boy was shot or physically hurt, right?”  “He’ll be over it in a few days…hanging out with his friends…laughing like kids do, right?” “His father probably overreacted and that’s understandable, right?”  “Besides, they are going to file a lawsuit and make some money from this. Right?” “It’s going blow over, right?  I mean… it’ all going to be, okay? Right?

Wrong…very wrong indeed.  It is not going to blow over.  And it will never ever be okay. 

The Realness of Blackness in Contemplation of Police Involvement

Suspicious behaviors: Racial profiling…driving while black…walking while black…shopping while black…riding a bicycle while black…being in the wrong location while black… and now taking out the trash…while black.

“Are you okay?”  “Are you safe? Did they hurt you?”  “Is my boy alive?”

“Our hope is we can put this unfortunate case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’ behind us and continue to represent the community that we serve.”

The Illusion of Whiteness

This is simply an unfortunate case of the 12-year-old being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  An unfortunate mistake was made, so let’s put this behind us, move on and let us continue to represent the community that we serve.

The Realness of Blackness

This is another example in which a Black boy was racially profiled by the police.  He was accosted, detained, and handcuffed while performing the simple chore of taking out the trash. An unfortunate yet common mistake of racial profiling and misidentification almost cost this innocent boy his life.  Because the police continue to racially profile and misidentify black males, we are too frightened to put this behind us.  And no, because of racial profiling and misidentification, the police do not represent or serve the community in which these “unfortunate mistakes” occur.

“Upon review, the police chief concluded the officer was respectful and professional during the child’s temporary detention. Nevertheless, he stated “We understand that something like this has an impact on all parties involved.  As the chief of police, I want to apologize that this incident has such an effect on this young man and his family.”

The Illusion of Whiteness

The police officer was respectful and professional.  The child was not physically harmed.  The child’s detention was temporary.  There was a meaningful apology to the young man and his family. and understanding that this impacted all parties involved included the responding police officers. 

The Realness of Blackness

Understanding that the police officer was respectful and professional does not transform the reality that he pointed his firearm, handcuffed, and detained a 12-year-old boy taking out the trash who he had misidentified. The apology loses its validity as the 12-year-old boy is described as the “young man” and his family.  Once again, being miscategorized as a young man when he is a child only adds to the psychological trauma being experienced by this family.

“The community to consider the all the facts of the situation before making a judgement.”

The illusion of Whiteness

Let’s not be hasty to rush to judge the actions of the police.  We as the community want all the facts.

The Realness of Blackness

Black males are repeatedly judged as criminal by the police due to the color of their skin.  Those suggesting the concern about being hasty continue to ignore ongoing incidents of racial profiling and misidentification by the police. Black people with many years of experience with police understand what has occurred in this situation.  The held beliefs of black males by the police and the community they serve will continue… It is for Black people living under law enforcement to identify ways in which to protect their children when they come under the control of the police.

When a Black Male Encounters the Police:

• Know that the police officer will ask you for identification, and it is legal for them to do so.
• Know that your identifying information will be compared to a national criminal database to identify any warrants or other notices against you.
• Know that the police officer will be looking for suspicious behavior from you or from anyone with you.
• Be prepared for a possible stop and search of your personal space and belongings.

Actions a Black Male to do during the Encounter:

• Keep your hands in plain sight and away from your body.

• Immediately tell the officer: I AM UNARMED.  I AM NOT A THREAT TO YOU.

• Always comply and follow the police officer’s instructions.  Speak in a respectful tone.

• If you are under the age of 18, inform the police officer of your age.

• If you are under the age of 18, request that your parent, legal guardian, or legal representative be present.

• If you choose not to speak, inform the police officer of your intent to remain silent until you have representation.  After that, immediately stop talking.

• Use your powers of observation.  Document the incident and any concerns regarding any behavior during the encounter.

• Remember to get the date, time, and location of the stop as well as the license plate, vehicle number, and the badge number of the police officer and the name of the police department.  All the necessary information is visible.  Do not ask the police officer for this information.

• If needed, file a complaint with the local police department.  Do not attempt to resolve the issue with the police officer in the streets.  This is the purpose of administrative and judicial hearings.

• Remember, that the police officer is entitled to use deadly force if he/she feels physically threatened.

Concluding Words:

The Illusion of Whiteness & The Realness of Blackness

Both groups reside on the same planet, are citizens in the same country and yet exist in two separate consciousness. Whites generally view the police as “protectors” committed to serve the community.  Blacks generally view the police as “enforcers of law and order”.  The views of Whites are true to themselves which allow them to live in an illusion when it comes to how they view the relationship between the police and the black community.  An example of the illusion is the statement by the police following this incident:

“Our hope is we can put this unfortunate case of “wrong place, wrong time” behind us and continue to represent the community that we serve.”

The truth is that the police want to get this unfortunate case behind them. However, the illusion is the community they serve. The police like the community they serve, live in fear of Black males. This deep-seated fear grants the conscious power to racially profile, intimidate and create psychological trauma as a means of controlling the population.

The police in unholstering a weapon, handcuffing and detaining a 12-year-old simply got caught “with its pants down” and now seeks to do damage control using words such as “respectful”, “professional behavior” and “temporary detainment”.  And then there is the plea by the police chief:

“The community to consider all the facts of the situation before making a judgement.”

And what community is the police chief referring to?  Can he be referring to the Black community in which his police officers racially profiled black males which led to a 12-year-old being misidentified as an adult responsible for car thefts?  Or is he appealing to the White community where such mistakes are understandable but no such incidents being reported?

There is the illusion of the understanding “that something like this has an impact on all parties involved”. Yet, what about the realness of Black people that the simple act of one’s child taking out the trash could have resulted in his death? There was no follow up with the father who is powerless in protecting his son from those who are sworn to protect them.

And there is the reality that this 12-year-old due to no fault of his own now has a permanent psychological wound because trauma in its permanency never ever goes away… only to be relived, reexperienced and intrusive in childhood and will continue into his adulthood.

Whatever meaningful understanding this terrible incident has will be forever carried by this child all while his family was destroyed by the those reporting of the incident.  The reporting staff stated:

“The family is exploring all legal options” including “the possibility of filing a lawsuit”, the lawyers said.”

So now… it all about the money.  Let’s downplay what happened.  Let’s focused on the reality…money.  That is going to resolve everything.

Until the next time.  And of course, there will be a next time.  Living in fear of black skin demands… a next time.

Regarding the “White Illusion”, James Baldwin stated,

 “The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them.  And I mean that very seriously.  You must accept them with love.  For these innocent people have no other hope.  They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand, and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it.  They have had to believe for many years that black men are inferior to white men.” The Fire Next Time, 1963.

Until the next time…

Remaining … In Our Corner.

The Visible Man: The Perilous Journey… Back to “The World”

Part VI

“Men, you are the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army. I would have never asked for you if you weren’t good. I have nothing but the best in my Army.  I don’t care what color you are, as long as you go up and kill those Kraut sonsabitches.  Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you.  Most of all, your race is looking forward to your success.  Don’t let them down, and damn you, don’t let me down!”

–      General George Patton. Speech, given to the 761^st Tank Battalion before the battle at Morville-les-Vic, 1944. (Abdul-Jabbar & Walton, 2004, p.87).

“The 761^st gave a very good impression, but I have no faith in the inherent fighting ability of the race.”

–     General George Patton. Diary Entry, written the same afternoon he addressed the 761^st Tank Battalion. (Abdul-Jabbar & Walton, 2004, p.87).

“The 761^st Tank Battalion was in continuous combat from October 31, 1944, to May 6, 1945.  During that period, they captured or destroyed 331 machine gun nests, 58 pillboxes, and 461 wheeled vehicles.  In addition, they killed 6,246 enemy soldiers and captured 15,818 prisoners. They liberated thirty towns, and villages and two branch concertation camps.  The tank battalion suffered a casualty rate of 50%.”

–     Dr. Micheal Kane, Clinical Traumatologist “A Review Study of the Clinical Implications for Working with African American Veterans.” Doctoral Dissertation, Argosy University-Seattle, 2005.

My Dear Readers,

It’s a quiet Monday morning 4:45 am on June 5^th. I am sitting in my dining room, sipping my Starbucks coffee, watching the sun rise over the beautiful Cascade Mountains. In the quietness, I am listening to the birds chirping, the wind rustling through the trees, and the distinct sounds of bells ringing from the light rail system as it slinks along MLK Way taking barely awake, yawning commuters to work in downtown Seattle and beyond.  Perhaps, you are among those fortunate enough to be awake at this wonderful hour and to begin what will no doubt be a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest.

Now as I sit here, it is time to bring closure to my epic trip of 10,000 miles beginning in Eastern Europe visiting the countries of Croatia, Slovenia, drifting along the Adriatic Sea and finally concluding with a visit to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the home of Anne Frank. As this epic journey ends, so does my six-segment series entitled “The Perilous Journey”. In this series, I have sought to compare, contrast, conceptualized and lastly, comment on the classic work of James Baldwin’s essay The Fire Next Time.

My intent was to compare the life of the Negro in 1963 to that of the African American in 2023 and in doing so, sharing some of my own personal experiences of my 70 years of life living as a black man in America with both eras providing the similar experience of psychological trauma due to racial oppression and discriminatory treatment.

The Importance of Anne Frank… Allyship through Survivorship

There will always be a bond between European Jews and African Americans. The struggle to survive annihilation, being terrorized, laws and codes regulating movements, occupations, schooling of children, being a refugee without safety…always living out of fear of expulsion and rejection due to fear of … white supremacy will be one that cements our histories together. 

It is well known that Hitler’s Nuremburg Laws on Race was modeled after American Jim Crow laws. One bond that will forever bond these two communities together is the role in which Black soldiers of the 761^st Tank Battalion liberated two branch concertation camps during WWII. One such camp was the Gunskirchen camp in Austria where they freed Hungarian Jews. In discovering, “…some 15,000 Hungarian Jews near death from starvation, horrified the tankers did everything they could to help but could not stay long before being ordered to move on, reflecting as they departed on the limits of human cruelty”.

Trapped in a History that They do not Understand

In writing to his nephew, James Baldwin passionately stated,

“Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity and fear.” 

Baldwin goes on to state:

“The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously. You must accept them with love. For these innocent people have no other hope.  They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it.  They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons that black men are inferior to white men.”

Behold, One’s Lying Eyes…Acceptance with Love

Can I believe my lying eyes? Did Baldwin just state the following:

• You must accept them…and accept them with love.  WTF?
• They are … still trapped in history which they do not understand.
• They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men.”

And yet they continue to believe regardless of historical evidence, that Black men are inferior to White men and in doing so, seek the elimination of Critical Race Theory (CRT) which only serves to keep them trapped in “history that they do not understand”.

And how do White people maintain the status, as Baldwin states, as “innocent people [who] have no other hope”? They shut off their minds due to what Baldwin calls “the loss of their identity”.

An example of the conflict is that of the statements of General George S. Patton. He delivered a passionate supportive speech to Black soldiers under his command, stating “I would have never asked for you if you weren’t good…. Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you.” Yet in that very same afternoon, writing in his diary, “The 761^st gave a very good impression, but I have no faith in the inherent fighting ability of the race.”  So, despite of the “very good impression” made by the black soldiers, Patton remained in what Baldwin states, “trapped in history” and the belief that Black men are inferior to White men.

This belief carries over well into the 21^st Century and is reinforced in the constant replaying of the movie Patton (1970) especially during holidays celebrating America’s military achievements of WWII.  The information in Patton’s diary was well known when the film Patton (1970) was developed and never included in the scene of the speech to the 761^st Tank Battalion or for that matter there were no scenes of Black soldiers in the film.  In doing so, the achievements of the Black soldiers went without notice adding to psychological distress of not being what Baldwin calls “the storms which rages …about the reality of acceptance and integration.”

Your brothers… Your Lost, Younger Brothers (1963)

In writing to his nephew, Baldwin states:

“These men are your brothers—your lost, younger brothers.  And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.”

Essentially, Baldwin in 1963 saw the realities of man that the White man was the younger brother of the Black man, and it was the role of the Black man, with love, to “force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it”.

My Brothers… My Lost, Younger Brothers (2023)

Sixty years later, Baldwin’s words of “force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it” … Has this been achieved?  Absolutely not. African Americans today, in 2023, remain no different from Negroes of 1963. 

We are not monolithic, meaning we are not of one single mind. There remain those who continue to seek acceptance and integration as well as those who do not.

However, what has remained consistent over the last 60 years is the Black man’s continual quest to “force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.”  This of course is being met with hardcore resistance in the form of formal laws against educating Whites about truths associated with Critical Race Theory (CRT) and limit what can be taught to Black and Brown children about the significance of their own history.

Bringing Closure to The Fire Next Time

Baldwin, in his closing words to his nephew, stated:

“It was intended that you should perish in the ghetto, perish by never being allowed to go behind the white man’s definitions, by never being allowed to spell your proper name. You have, and many of us have, defeated this intention and, by a terrible law, a terrible paradox, those innocents who believed that your imprisonment made them safe are losing their grasp of reality.”

The Permanency of Psychological Trauma: The Lifetime Wound That Never Truly Heals

At the time of Baldwin’s writing in 1963, the discussion of traumatic impacts within the Black experience were treated as “family secrets” and were left basically unheard and untreated leading to dire and devastating consequences.  In the present day, although suspicion and reservations remain towards the healthcare system and its Eurocentric model, there is more willingness to understand and engage in mental health treatment.

It is not unusual for the Eurocentrically trained mental health therapist to respond affirmatively when questioned whether someone suffering from trauma can be healed.  However, such a response today is misguided and mismatched as historically, the therapist was trained to view trauma as a single distressing or disturbing experience not a conglomeration of experiences.

Today in marginalized communities where traumatic impacts can occur repetitively and can strike in combination with other subtypes at the psychological core of an individual or community. An example of such psychological impacts is those being experienced by the family and the community of Richland County, SC in which Cyrus Carmack-Benton, a 14-year Black boy was shot in the back and killed as he ran away from a convivence store, the allegation being he had stolen a bottle of water.

The sheriff’s office’s incident report states, “the shooting was not a bias motivated incident”.  Consequently, it is perceivable that members of this community could be impacted by one or a combination of all the following identified psychological traumas:

• Intergenerational Trauma; Historical Trauma
• Insidious Trauma; Trauma of Racial Profiling
• The Impostor Syndrome; The Stereotypical Threat Trauma
• Betrayal Trauma; Racial Trauma
• Micro-Aggression Assault; Macro-Aggression
• Just World Trauma; The Invisibility Syndrome
• Complex Posttraumatic Stress; Isolation Trauma

Concluding Words- Dr. Kane … Back to the World

In starting this six segment blog series during my 10,000-mile journey, my intent was to compare the life of the Negro in 1963 to that of the African American in 2023… what have I learned? I learned that Black people are committed to echoing Baldwin’s words of forcing “our white brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.”

However, as stated earlier, Black people are not monolithic, meaning we are not of the same stone. Where some seek change, others seek transformation. I view change as temporary and self-serving, but I for one, am committed to transformation which has permanency with the focus on moving forward. Has transformation occurred? No. This country is far from achieving transformation and will not achieve it because as Baldwin clearly stated:

“They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it. They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons that black men are inferior to white men”.

As I was returning from my trip, I learned some more sorrowful and troublesome information.  On May 28, 2023, a 16-year-old Black teen was shot in the back by a former cop who was white, for dating his daughter.

Baldwin states:

“You must accept them with love. For these innocent people have no other hope.” 

I suggest the following quote:

“The stupid neither forgives nor forget; the naïve forgive and forget; the wise forgives but do not forget. Forgive many things in others; nothing in yourself. Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow up beyond what you were.  To err is human; to forgive, infrequently.”

Back To the World – Curtis Mayfield

In these city streets everywhere
You gotta be careful where you move your feet
How you part your hair
Do you really think that God could ever forgive this life we live?
Back in the world
Back in the world

Had a long stretch of sacrifice
Gettin’ back home will be awful nice
Child, your woman has long been gone
The doggone war just lasted too long
People don’t give a damn
People don’t give a damn
People don’t give a damn

So I’m standin’ here in future shock
It can give the mind an awful knock
Talkin’ ’bout hard times, hard times, hard times
Back in the world
Oh-oh-oh
My, my, my, my, my, my
It’s so hard, it’s so hard
This life is so hard
I been beaten up and robbed
Soldier boy ain’t got no job
Back in the world

Well, evening has arrived, and my mission of blog writing is completed! Good night, safe travels, calmness, in walking your landscapes. I bid you peace and emotional wellness.

Dr. Kane

“Living the life I want and letting go of the life I lived.”

Until We Meet Again… I am the Visible Man

The Visible Man: The Perilous Journey: Sadness at Home… Here We Go Again

Part V

“He did not shoplift anything. We have no evidence that he stole anything whatsoever, and even if he did that’s not something you shoot anybody over, much less a 14-year-old.”

–        Leon Lott, Sheriff, Richland County, SC.

“We are confident that this was done in a manner that we now classify as a homicide.  This was not an accidental shooting by any means. This was a very intentional shooting.  And unfortunately, Cyrus Carmack-Benton lost his life.”

–        Naida Rutherford, Coroner, Richland County, SC.

“What happened to Cyrus wasn’t an accident. It’s something the Black community has experienced for generations: being racially profiled; then shot down in the street like a dog.  I’m asking that our community continue to wrap their arms around this family as they’ve joined the club that no Black family ever wants to be a part of.”

–        SC State Rep. Todd Rutherford, the family’s attorney

My Dear Readership,

I am currently on my flight returning home from a very enjoyable and relaxing respite.  There were a variety of reasons for the respite; recovery from severe health issues resulting in surgery and suspension of my clinical practice, the commitment to follow what I preach to my patients and taking care of the psychological self, (The Five R’s of Relief) and finally, the opportunity to sit, write and share with my beloved readership, thoughts and feelings regarding my walking the landscape through writings of “The Perilous Journey”.

My respite began by visiting the Balkan region of Eastern Europe specifically the countries of Slovenia and Croatia, then sailing along the coastlines of the Adriatic Sea, the northernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea and lastly, a stop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 

In Slovenia, I visited an island in Lake Bled which is home to the 17^th Century church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.  In Croatia, besides being adrift in the Adriatic Sea, I visited Zagreb which has served as the capital since the 13^th Century.  During my visit, I stayed at the historical Esplanade Zagreb Hotel, the setting of many Agatha Christie novels and enjoyed by luminous African American celebrates including the actress Josephine Baker, bandleader Louis Armstrong and jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. This epic journey concluded with a visit to the house of Anne Frank in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The Last Morning: Reminiscing

Staying at the DeWitt Hotel Amsterdam, the last morning was wonderful. I enjoyed a splendid breakfast of salmon, mushroom and gouda omelet and a variety of fresh fruits followed by two double espressos.  I want to give a special shout out to Ritchie a senior hospitality specialist and server at the hotel’s restaurant.  Just a few words, Ritchie is an African American expatriate, or “expat”, who hails from Brooklyn, New York.  Ritchie has resided in Amsterdam for 25 years.  He originally moved so he could gain fluency in a foreign language.  Now he is completing an advanced degree in International Diplomacy at the Hague University.  He returns to Brooklyn on a yearly basis maintaining close contacts with three brothers and sisters and a host of loving nephews and nieces.  I enjoyed numerous moments of laughter chatting as he shared his experiences of life residing in Amsterdam. My morning and stay in Amsterdam terminated with a brief walk around the canals, reminiscing about the epics of my travels that was now coming to an end.

The Flight Home: Shock. Cinderella’s Curse, the clock slams and it ain’t midnight

Here I am Dr. Kane, clinical traumatologist, international traveler and well respected in my field.  I am about to celebrate my 70^th birthday and seeking to adapt to the changes in my life’s journey due to the severe medical issues which was the focus of my respite.  I purchased a business class seat and now relaxed and about to begin writing the final segment of my “The Perilous Journey” blogs documenting my experiences on this journey… and …bam! 

Changing Topics: From Appreciation to Seeing the Sadness at Home

In reviewing the news from “home” I am shocked, angered and impacted by today’s news.  Sitting in my comfortable seat, I learned that a convivence store owner, suspecting shoplifting had occurred, chased a 14-year-old Black boy, and shot him in the back, killing him. The coroner had ruled the shooting, a homicide.  The owner of the convivence store had been charged with murder. The sheriff’s office’s incident report states “the shooting was not a bias motivated incident”. Really? 

Vandalism & Looting: Actions of Frustration & Hopelessness

Initially, following the shooting there were peaceful protests.  However, the next day, the convenience store was looted and vandalized and the outside spray-painted and the windows shattered.  Sheriff Lott, added, “A group of people entered the store and took everything they could get their hands on.”  And furthermore, “What does stealing a case of beer have to do with a 14-year- old being shot and the person responsible being charged with murder?  Someone explain that.  What does that have to do what stealing beer?’ Go ahead, drink that beer, and enjoy it right now, because you’re going to pay for it later.”

In seeking to assist in explaining anger and frustration resulting from the meaningless death of a 14-year-old Black boy, perhaps in reviewing Baldwin’s essay written to his nephew and my 40 years of providing mental health services to psychologically impacted communities we can share some wisdom learned from behaviors which, despite the many years of policing Black people Sheriff Lott, apparently still does not… understand them or… the problem.

The Nigger & the Seeds of Destruction Part I

In writing to his nephew, James Baldwin, states:

“You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger. I tell you this because I love you and please don’t you ever forget it.”

Baldwin adds,

“To be loved, baby, hard, at once, and forever to strengthen you against the loveless world. Remembering that. I know how black it looks today for you.  It looked black that day too, yes, we were trembling.  We have not stopped trembling yet, but if we had not loved each other, none of us would have survived, and now, you must survive because we love you, and for the sake of your children and your chidren’s children.”

In reviewing Baldwin’s essay, written 334 years after the arrival of Africans in America and 100 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, is he not affirming to his nephew that the “white world” continues to view and believe him and those of his racial group as “niggers”? Is Baldwin not affirming to his nephew that like the survival-ship of the preceding generation, it is the function of the nephew to… survive? For what purpose? The sake of his children and his children’s children?

Vandalism & Looting: In Harvesting the Nigger & the Seeds of Destruction Part 2

In furtherance, Baldwin’s words were insightful in 1963 and continuing to loom casting the darkness of what has resulted from white fear and racial hatred of Black skin over the last 403 years.  Baldwin’s words to his nephew shouts volumes as to what Black people have been forced to do over every generation since arriving on “freedom’s shores”… survive. The vandalism and looting of one specific convivence store is wrong.  Yet can we understand the frustration, the sense of hopelessness and powerlessness in this community? A14-year-old Black boy, smilingly waives bye or might have said, “see you later”… goes off to the local convivence store, is racially profiled for the “major crime” of shoplifting, is shot in the back, while running from the store with a Glock 305 and is killed… and the sheriff’s office incident report states “the shooting was not a bias motivated incident.” Really? 

White Time (Living) & Black Time (Surviving): The Wisdom of Mothers

Following the vandalism and looting that resulted from the shooting, Richland County deputies were assigned to guard the convenience store. Whereas the presence of the police serves as a visible message of preservation of property, the visible message, of vandalism and looting (anger, frustration) as to the lack of value in Black lives and, in addition, the hopelessness and helplessness in protecting Black children is either ignored or co-opted in the news media.

“A group of people entered the store and took everything they could get their hands on.”

–        Leon Lott, Sheriff, Richland County, SC.

In the film Forrest Gump (1994), Tom Hanks stated the following memorable quotes lovingly held by many in White America … “My Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” and “My Mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.”

And yet, with Black people historically unable to protect their children either historically or as presented in the recent shootings, the wisdom of Forrest’s mama lacks placement within our reality.  In dealing with White America, life is not like a box of chocolates. You have a clear perception of what you are going to get. Furthermore, in comparison to Forrest’s mama comments about putting the past behind, such is not possible when living among people who either live in fear or hold extreme negative feelings toward you… due to the blackness of your skin.

The logic of Forrest’s mama … makes sense for those focused on living yet not for those whose lives are about surviving whereas they are either invisible, denied or just not seen.

Baldwin does speak to the wisdom of his mother, notably, in telling his nephew that “Your grandmother was always there, no one has ever accused her of being bitter.” and “Your countrymen (white people) did not know that she even exists, either, even though she has been working for them all of their lives.”

The Less We Forget, The More We Remember.

As stated previously the focus of White America during Baldwin’s writing was the intellectualization of the Black experience in America, allowing them to remain silent and avoidant. However, this differed for Black people whose focus was on survival.  The strategy being one of not speaking of racial distressful incidents and maintaining a strong outer shell as an image for others and protecting the self from psychological intrusion. This strategy, unfortunately created behaviors that served as models to their children, reinforcing psychological trauma and opening the floodgates encouraging intergenerational trauma to move rushing forward to future generations.

Well, it’s about 5:00 pm, my 10-hour flight spanning 5125 miles is just about to come to an end.  It had been my intention to bring closure to this epic journey by closing out the Perilous Journey with comments regarding my visit to the home of Anne Frank. However, due to the death of Cyrus Carmack-Benton a 14-year-old Black boy, racially profiled, chased and shot in the back … in paying homage and respect, it was important to bring meaning to a life cut short that, unfortunately due to the Blackness of his skin, a life and death that soon will be forgotten. This child will never be given the chance to drift along the Adriatic Sea, walk the canals of Amsterdam nor ride business class on an international fight being treated like a king.  Those possibilities were stolen from him. A life, gone too soon.

Once I am over the inevitable jetlag, I will return and bring completion to my series of The Perilous Journey.  Until then …a good night, safe travels, and calmness in walking your landscape.  I bid you peace, and emotional wellness. 

“Walking my landscape…. Living the life, I want and letting go the life I have lived.”

“Not existing…Not surviving … living. Driving (empowered), Striving (pacesetting), and Achieving (arriving).

Dr. Kane

Until We Meet Again… I am the Visible Man.

The Visible Man: The Perilous Journey… The Psychological Pains of Forgiveness

Part IV

The Battle of the Bulge

Roughly 2,500 African Americans fought alongside white soldiers to repel the Germans in a wintry, miserable sequence of weeks. In the aftermath of the battle, the racial integration effort was well received, and the African American soldiers were evaluated as having done “well”.

Sacrifice: The 333rd Field Artillery at the Battle of the Bulge.

Manning 155mm howitzers, African American gunners sacrificed themselves to defend fleeing infantry. Eleven of them were murdered by the Waffen SS, and then forgotten by the US Army. (17 Sept 2020) Warfare History Network

My Dear Readers,

I am currently in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on the fourth portion of my travels.  I bring you the fourth installment of The Perilous Journey. Before I begin contrasting the lives of Black & Brown Americans over the last 60 years using the essay of James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time, I want to acknowledge the significance of Memorial Day and the contributions, heroism and bravery of African American women and men in military service. Specifically, the “colored troops” serving during WWII.

The Wereth 11 Massacre

During the Battle of the Bulge, a well-known conflict that occurred during the height of WWII, eleven Black GIs from the 333^rd Field Artillery Battalion, designated “colored troops” by the military, were the victims of a mass execution that went unacknowledged by the US government.

At 7:00 p.m. on the evening of December 17, 1944, the Waffen SS drove these 11 captured men into the forest.  There, they savagely tortured their victims with rifle butts and bayonets before cutting off many of their fingers and running them over with vehicles – whether this happened before or after the Americans were dead, was impossible to say.  Then they moved on, leaving their bodies behind.

The parents and wives of the 11 soldiers received letters from the military that their sons or husbands simply died in combat. Sadly, most went to their graves believing that lie. Unlike the atrocity of Malmedy, where 113 White American soldiers were captured and 84 killed, there was no investigation, no International Military Tribunal, and no trial. No such efforts were made to pursue the murders of the Black GIs in the Wereth 11 Massacre.

While other units fighting during the Battle of the Bulge received the Presidential Unit Citation, the African American gunners of the segregated unit, who sacrificed themselves to defend fleeing white American soldiers received…nothing. 

Moving forward…. The Fire Next Time (1963)

A foreword from Dr. Kane

At the writing of Baldwin’s essay in 1963, 331 years since the arrival of Africans into the American colonies, Black people had endured the psychological and physical oppressions of White people. Historically, there had remained the fear that one day the slaves would revolt, taking revenge: killing their white oppressors. Following the ending of slavery and the granting of emancipation, fear of Blacks by Whites of death and destruction remained. This resulted in the removal of federal troops and the protection they offered and allowed the disenfranchisement of former slaves and freemen and recognition of both the official codification by laws, administrative codes, and recognition of local whites to organize to control blacks within the local towns and cities.

The Raging Storms … Acceptance & Integration

James Baldwin in writing to his nephew, states:

“There is no reason for you to try to become like white people and there is no basis whatever for their imperilment assumption that they must accept you. The real troubling thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously.  You must accept them and accept them with love.  For these innocent people have no other hope. They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it”.

Belief in the truth…the loss of identity

James Baldwin goes on to tell his nephew,

“They {White people} have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons that black men are inferior to white men.  Many of them, indeed, know better, but, as you will discover, people find it difficult to act on what they know.  To act is to be committed, and to committed is to be in danger.  In this case, the danger is in the minds of most white Americans is the loss of their identity”.

Seeking the savory carrot…In a sea of Whiteness

For many of the veterans of the frontlines of the Children’s Crusade for equality and racial justice there was the savory carrot of acceptance and integration tied with hard earned validation and respect…we wanted it all so badly that we closed our ears and accepted emotionally hurtful phases from our “newly gained” white friends including:

• “You’re different.”
• “You’re not like the rest of them.”
• “I wish I had more Black friends like you.”
• “When I say negative things about them, I am not referring to you.”
• “When I look at you, I don’t see color.”

Scrapes from the table…The hunger and acceptance of NOT’s.

Yet in 2023, sixty years following Baldwin’s essay to his nephew, the savory carrot of acceptance and integration along with validation of respect still has not been achieved. When a veteran of the Chidren’s Crusades states not being impacted by micro aggressive comments arising from the sea of whiteness, it is an acknowledgement of achievement of the hard work in that person’s disillusioned mind that he/she has achieved acceptance and integration. Realistically, this individual has only acquired a status that is haltingly given to “a select few”.

This status is known as the NOT’s specifically:

• (N) Novelty-the quality of being new, original, or unusual.
• (O) Oddity-a strange or peculiar person, thing, or trait.
• (T) Token– acceptance and integration tied with hard earned validation of respect – a person who is included in a group, given the appearance that the individual is being treated fairly when this is not true.

In writing this section, in looking for an example I considered focusing on the behavior of the only Black Republican in the US Senate. Senator Tom Scott, South Carolina in the response to Biden’s State of the Union address in 2020, stated that “Hear me clearly…America is not a racist country”. Scott is now well received by white conservatives as he has recently announced his candidacy, running for the presidency.

Instead, I speak to my own experiences of the conflicts that resulted from the attainment of acceptance and integration and most importantly respect, following 8 years of hard work, microaggressions and sacrifice while attaining my doctoral degree in clinical psychology.  Foolishly and mistakenly, I thought I had…arrived!  Instead, I was to learn that rather than transformation, the lopsided playing field had simply become more…lopsided.

I remember the hurdles of the doctoral process in which my program included:

• four years of classroom study,
• two years practicum,
• two years of clinical internship,
• written six-hour clinical examination,
• oral examination,
• faculty presentation of a research proposal,
• and two-year research study,
• final writing of the research,
• defense of the research,
• and publication of the research study.

I accomplished these “pillars” while being a husband, a father of two and holding two part time jobs as a mental health therapist and an associate director of training and development at one of the 10 largest research universities in the US.

Acknowledgement- Dr. Laura Brown

As I write this, I want to extend my heartful thanks and appreciation to my dissertation chair and now colleague, mentor, and good friend Dr. Laura Brown who consistently challenged me to create scholarship that would withstand challenges of inferior work from other scholars/researchers.  She repeatedly rejected my drafts (eight times!) demanding, knowing I could offer more and refusing to accept less. After 8 years of intellectual study and sacrifice, I simply wanted “the road to hell” to be over and yet as a Jewish woman and lesbian committed to racial and social justice, she was very much aware of the future I would face.

Into the 21^st Century: The Savory Carrot of Ascension to N.O.T.-hood

The savory carrot was initially bestowed upon me in my entrance into the doctoral program in which I would go on to earn my second master’s degree and later, the prestigious doctorate degree in clinical psychology. At the time, this was a new graduate school, and in my “historical” selection, I achieved numerous “firsts”. I was the first person accepted into the program, the first person of color accepted and later, went on to become the first African American to graduate, achieving the doctoral degree in clinical psychology.

As my ego and size of my head grew due to my achievements which as James Baldwin defined as the raging storms of acceptance and integration, I realized I was subjecting myself to a life of being observed, questioned, and challenged.  For the next 8 years, being bestowed as N.O.T., I would be poked, jabbed, etc.  For many of my classmates I was treated as the “first contact” from an alien world.  And yet within my professional world, I was resented by my colleagues for wanting more as I sought to achieve more education and professional development whereas they had achieved less and were satisfied at that level.

During my eight years of “rigorous” academic study while being the N.O.T., I became the focus study of the “Black experience”. I eagerly debated with my white classmates challenging them on the issues of the impacts of racism, inequalities in mental health care and, their silence on the issues impacting African Americans.  After all, who other than I, was best suited to educate them… just as in James Baldwin’s work about the Black experience in America.

Unfortunately, due to my naiveté, I failed to realize that as a N.O.T. I was being used and not utilized.  They spoke highly about their commitment to change however when called to act they failed.  As Baldwin so clearly stated:

 “To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger.  In this case, the danger is in the minds of most white Americans is the loss of their identity”.

Al Jolson Reborn: Mammy, Mammy…My little Mammy

One such situation of silence occurred was when a white clinical psychologist was visiting as a guest speaker and conducting his seminar in front of the entire graduate program including the Dean of the Graduate School.  As I sat in the front row, he stopped his presentation and in front of me did a full rendition of Al Jolson in well known song of “My Mammy”. At first, I was stunned, questioning to myself “WTF?” as in what does this have to do with clinical psychology or his presentation?  And as God is my witness, this invited example of what I wanted to attain… did the full rendition of “My Mammy” again for the second time.  As I turned and looked at my classmates and the Dean, there was no reaction in the “sea of whiteness”.  Fully engrossed in anger and humiliation, I got up from my seat and exit the room.  Later to be consoled by some students “are you okay” and be avoided eye contact by others.

The Fall from Grace: When One’s Is No Longer…Needed.

There is a saying in the African American community “one day you are grinning with the white folks and the next day… they are gone”. Well, that was my experience; one day, I had, as James Baldwin stated: gained the acceptance, integration, and respect in the lives of my white colleagues and just like the childhood fable of what happened to Cinderella the princess at the stroke of midnight, following my graduation, most of those relationships ceased to exist. My fellow graduates were now returning to the realities of their world which in its sea of whiteness did not include the “stain” of blackness of me. Suddenly I was able to come to understand the role I played as an N.O.T. where I wanted to be utilized as a force of transformation, but I was simply being used.  I had been played and played well as I sought to be a part of … their lives where in reality, they had no intentions of having a role in mine.

A Painful Awakening… the unresolved wound.

However, a psychological wound that brings anger, remorse and unending sadness is the ending of my relationship with a white classmate who I had called a friend.  The ending of the relationship began following a disagreement in which I recalled stating, “You don’t know how to play in the sandbox”. Specifically, I meant as a white male he sought to lead me and not want to share the exchange of leadership in our relationship.  He responded by quietly stating “I want you to leave my home”. Being quite shaken, I realized that he was telling me as a Black man, a colleague and holder of a doctorate degree that I was being ejected out of his home.  I subsequently left and later as we continued the “friendship”, over the next two years, we never discussed the incident.

The Reckoning…

I have often asked myself why didn’t I speak up? Why did I not advocate for myself.  Why did I  allow this humiliation to stand? His actions and refusal to speak to them was a statement and yet what was it a statement of? And, then in reading James Baldwin, about his brother that “in the bottom of his heart he truly believed what white people thought about him”. Was that me?  Did I believe that I was inferior to my friend?

Two actions held the relationship which now was dangling and shredded.  There was value in  his actions of being there as he stood by me during the illness and death of my beloved spouse and the termination from my position at the prestigious state research university.  It was my belief that loyalty held the friendship in place.  And yet, the silence, the unwillingness of him to speak of the actions of ejecting his friend a Black man? How could he not see the racism? Or at least the psychological traumatic impacts that followed?

The conflict of truths and being trapped in a history…that they do not understand.

I am awakened to Baldwin’s words about how white people are trapped. Yes, this person knows better; of the lies told of the inferiority of the Black man and the superiority of the White man, yet when challenged “you don’t know how to play in the sandbox.”  I believe for him, that the conflicts of truths and being trapped in history, emerged and collided.  As to the lack of his addressing the incident, one will never know the truths associated with this.  I expect this may be what Baldwin calls ‘the addressing danger of the loss of identity’ and may be the reason. 

This individual and I currently have a complicated yet clearly defined relationship, we do not have direct interactions as this will never reoccur until the wounding to the relationship has been addressed.  He follows my blogs and time to time; we occasionally trade comments on Facebook. 

And here is where I leave my beloved readership. It is early in quietness of the morning as I sit in the lobby of my hotel signing off to you as I now must prepare myself both psychologically and emotionally for my upcoming trip in a few hours to the home of Anne Frank, the young adolescent author who perished at the age of 15 the Nazi concertation camp.

Well, again, it has been my pleasure to share insights with my readership.  I look forward to the next segment of my journey subtitled The Perilous Journey: The Horizon & Walking One’s Landscape.

A good morning, safe travels, calmness, in walking your landscapes.  I bid you peace and wellness.

Dr. Kane

Until We Meet Again… I am the Visible Man.

The Visible Man: The Perilous Journey… Choices and Decisions at the Crossroads

Part III

“My name is Donald Rivers. I am a man. I am a black and beautiful man.”

  –        Donald Rivers, Smart Justice Leader, ACLU of Connecticut, LinkedIn 05.23.23     

“I love you, Donald Rivers.”

– Dr. Micheal Kane, Clinical Traumatologist & Forensic Evaluator, (Writing aboard on the SS Nautilus, in the harbor of Split, Coartia- along the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea.)

“Why did he shoot me? What did I do wrong?”

–        Ademien Murray, 11, shot on 05.25.2023 by police after calling 911 at his mother’s request.

My Dear Readers,

It is early on Saturday morning, I sit on the bottom deck feeling both the softness of the rocking, caress of the blueish waters and the calmness of the wind brushing both my face and my spirit. I have made this oasis, amid the Adriatic Sea, home for the last seven days and now it is time to depart for the third leg of another fantastic adventure to the city of Zagreb, which has served as capital of Croatia since the 9^th Century.  I will be staying at the historic Esplanade Hotel, the setting for many Agatha Christie novels and the residence of several well-known African American celebrities including Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong, and Miles Davis.

Following a one day stay, I will depart for the fourth and final leg of my fantastic journey, flying to Amsterdam where again following my work as a clinical traumatologist, I shall visit the house of Anne Frank, who at the age of 15 perished in the Nazi concertation camp of Auschwitz. She was one of the approximately 270,000 children sent to Auschwitz, only 700 survived.  Eight years ago, in my visit to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, I vividly recall two observations that are permanently etched within my “psychological self.” Please take note that I did not state “etched within my memory.”

These observations included being in a large room that was engrossed with the fullness of a life size “railway cattle car.” This was an actual full sized railway car and not a replica or a small or shortened model.  It clearly provided an understanding of the psychological terrors these people faced as they were forcibly taken from their homes, treated inhumanely tossed into these very cars to face a fate that often ended in death.  The second observation was being in a large room filled with little shoes, not just simply shoes for sizes of all types of feet. These shoes, hundreds if not thousands were specifically those of children ranging from infants to middle childhood. Standing there in the silence of the room, staring at the tiny shoes, and imagining the horrors that these young children suffered has created a wound that to this day remains unhealed.

Since my visit in Washington DC, I have been to the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris, France and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, Germany. In 2019, I participated in the “Year of the Return” traveling to Ghana, African, marking 400 years of the Atlantic Slave Trade.  While I was there, I visited Elmina Castle. The castle overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, is a former slave trader outpost, where the “Door of No Return” was located.  It was through this door that millions of Africans were forced onto slave ships bound for the United States. I viscerally recall the tears streaming down my face and being psychologically impacted as I held onto the “Door of No Return.” I also recall the actions of a fellow traveler, prying my hands off the door as I became lost in my psychological self, refusing to let go.  My soul screamed out in agony.

I love you, Donald Rivers

Earlier in this writing, I mentioned Donald Rivers as someone I love due to his passion for the children; our African American children, a population that are more than not intentionally ignored, consciously overlooked, and mistreated in many American educational systems.  Mr. Rivers’ passion to educate, nurture and make sure that there are male role models within our communities there to stimulate young Black minds.

Today our children are being directly exposed to and psychologically impacted by shootings that are nonsensical.  These would include the 16-year-old in Kansas City, MO child who was shot for the mistake of knocking on the wrong door; the 10-year-old and his father in Tallahassee, FL, who were shot while returning a rental truck to a mall and most recently an 11-year-old in Indianola, MS who was shot by the responding police after calling 911 at his mother’s request.

Mr. Rivers recently published an article on LinkedIn (5.23.23) where he states the importance of young Black men considering entering the educational arena to make sure that our children have mentors they can look up and talk to about life issues that, we in our communities across America, face today. How can one love this man, a person I have never met? Simple, he awakens the “child within” the little Black boy who never experienced the teaching, mentorship, or commitment of a Black male teacher.  He clearly states “I am a man” without arrogance. He affirms that “I am a black and beautiful man”.  In the essence of vulnerability and exposure, he offers hope to young Black children, items that were far and few in James Baldwin’s day as suggested in the following words of his essay to his nephew.

Remembering Pain, Tears & Invisibility

James Baldwin writes:

“I remember, with pain, his tears, which my hand or your grandmother’s so easily wiped away.  But no one’s hand can wipe away those tears he sheds invisibly today which one hears in his laughter and in his speech and in his songs.”

Baldwin is eloquent in addressing the outcome of his brother and yet he does not bring into his focus the fullness or understanding of the psychological impacts that brought his brother to the state of “existing death”. It is important to remember the relevance of his writing is bringing an understanding to White America the experience of what it was to be Black in America. He did not seek to bring to African Americans meaning or clarification of their psychological impacts.  Baldwin left this to be figured out or discussed by others. Below is a personal story of psychological impacts for an “adultized” Black child, the choices and decision that lies ahead.

The Long-Awaited Outcome: Are These the Niggers?

Being born in the ghettoized North and raised in the segregated South, at the age of 10 I ascended to adulthood quickly learning the difference between the illusion of white time and the meaning of “doing black time”. Whereas white time was magical, imaginative, and fun, colored time was real, in black time, one’s actions and movement may have resulted in life changing events.

I can recall an experience occurring 60 years ago when walking on a country road on a hot summer day with another black boy. A police car pulled up. The police officer got out of the car, ordering us to get in his vehicle.  We obeyed without question.  He never told us the reason why he had stop us, nor did he utter any words while he was driving. Again, we did not speak as we were extremely fearful of what was to come.  He drove five miles where he stopped at a small country store, the type that was common that time but has disappeared in modern times being replaced by AM/PMs and 7-11 connivence stores. 

Upon arriving at this country store, without saying a word, he got out, called to the store owner, who upon coming out of the store, the police officer asked, “are these the niggers?” The old store owner whose neck was reddened from the burning sun, stared at us for several moments, time that seemed to be an eternity before stating “nah, these aren’t the niggers.” The police officer nodded to the store owner, got into his cruiser and just… drove away, leaving us standing there in the hot sun staring at the store owner who left, returning to his store. It was a long walk home for both of us. 

My friend and I never spoke about it as we walked.  I never told my parents of the incident out of fear of being punished. To this very day, 60 years later, I still don’t know what happened or the alleged crime.  Today, I recognized that at that moment, I stood at the crossroads. Whatever I could accomplish in life would depend on the decision made by a white man whose neck was clay pot red from the heat of a summer. Specifically, “Are these the niggers?”

Choices …. The Decision at the Crossroads

As Donald Rivers seeks to reach out to young Black men the importance of teaching of Black children, he offers a variety of reasons:

• Serving as male role models impacting a child’s self-esteem and sense of identity.
• Combating negative stereotypes and prejudices that young Black children may face.
• Breaking down barriers and challenges harmful ideas about race and masculinity.
• Providing guidance, support, and encouragement to help young Black boys navigate the challenges of school and life.
• Helping to shape the next generation of Black leaders, thinkers, and innovators.

 The Unforgiveable Crime… The Psychological Destruction of a Black Life.

In writing to his nephew Baldwin states:

“I know what the world has done to my brother and how narrowly he has survived it.  And I know, which is much worse, and this is the crime of which I accuse my country and my countrymen, and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them, that they have destroyed and are destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it.”

Late. Late. Late. and yet …Today can be that day.

Baldwin’s brother is dead; as Baldwin stated, “he had a terrible life; he was defeated long before he died because at the bottom of his heart, he really believed what white people said about him.” Today, men of Baldwin’s era including myself, carry psychological impacts such as intergenerational trauma that are being unconsciously transferred to our loved ones.  Perhaps if we had mentors and models such as Donald Rivers, we would have stood at the crossroads of life with solid foundations, able to make healthy decisions, and be able to live the lives we wanted and not live the lives we had.

Walking one’s landscape….

Well, it’s late into the night; this is a good as ever a place to stop. Tomorrow I am leaving for Amsterdam.

Tomorrow I will reemerge with Part 4 The Perilous Journey: The Psychological Pains of Forgiveness.

A good night, safe travels, and calmness in walking your landscapes.  I bid you peace and emotional wellness.  Until tomorrow.

Dr. Kane

Until We Meet Again… I am the Visible Man.

The Visible Man: The Perilous Journey… The Less We Forget, The More We Remember.

Part II

“For sixteen years, her husband beat her…. but after 16 years of cruelty, she finally walked out on Ike Turner.”

–        Tina Turner, 11/26/1939 – 05/24/2023

My Dear Readers,

As always, I bid you greetings and wellness.  Currently I am resting off the island of Hvar on the Croatian coastline in the Adriatic Sea which is the northern most part of the Mediterranean Sea. I am aboard a small ship of approximately 36 passengers and 8 crew members including women and men.  With great sadness I learned earlier last night that Tina Turner had passed away at the age of 83.

In my previous writing, I indicated that I would continue the five short segments of The Perilous Journey by exploring the concept of being imprisoned.  However today, I am weighed down with immense grief and sadness about the passage of Tina Turner. 

There is often the criticism of overt focus on psychological trauma.  There is also the consistent recommendation of examining a new direction and focus my writings on other issues such as family, male-female relationships or educational, social and developmental issues impacting the African American community.

Joe Louis, the African American Heavyweight Champion, clearly stated “You can run but you can’t hide”.  It is estimated that 70% of African Americans are suffering from clinical depression and anxiety disorders.

These unresolved childhood traumas if they remain unattended to will inflict havoc on family dynamics, male-female relationships, educational or social and emotional developmental issues throughout life.  Tina Turner provides a clear example. She endured 16 years of domestic violence, sexual, physical, emotional, and psychological abuses in a marriage with Ike Turner who, like Tina Turner, had unresolved histories of childhood trauma.

It would be a non-starter to simply step away to write on issues that one wants to assume are less impactful.  However, as it is said, “All roads lead to Rome”, meaning in the days of the Roman Empire, all roads radiated out from the capital city, Rome.  Another view of this quote is the inevitability of life that being all methods of doing something will achieve the same result in the end. Therefore, regardless of the issue being faced, to achieve relief from psychological pain, processing of such feelings is inevitable.

In applying this to my work, as a clinical traumatologist I work as a psychotherapist within the African American community.  My work is focused on the SELF Protocol: Self-Empowerment Leaping Forward.   In the work of clinical traumatology, I seek to provide a safe secure space for the patient to either sit in silence or speak to the substances/secrets which are surfacing upon one’s landscape. 

The Ghosts of Our Past.

James Baldwin in writing to his nephew in his essay “The Fire Next Time” (1963) states:

“Dear James,

I have begun this letter five times and torn it up five times.  I keep seeing your face, which is the face of our father and my brother. Like him, you are tough, dark, vulnerable, moody—with a very definite tendency to sound truculent because you want no one to think you are soft… Well, he is dead, he never saw you, and he had a terrible life, he was defeated long before he died because he believed what white people said about him… You can only be destroyed by believing that you are really are what the white world calls a nigger. I tell you this because I love you, and please don’t you ever forget it.”

The Less We Forget; The More We Remember

Interpreting Baldwin’s words, the question becomes one of what do I see? I see the tortured faces of our fathers, the fathers of the children’s crusade obediently sent off to fight a war, yet psychologically unprepared to do so and resultantly, many traumatized and carrying these psychological wounds into their adulthood, impacting the lives of their spouses and children. In reference to Baldwin’s brother, and comparison to Baldwin’s nephew, in looking at his nephew’s face he sees signs and symbols of a tough, dark, vulnerable, moody person, ….  Baldwin adds “with a very definite tendency to sound truculent because you want no one to think you are soft.”

You’re Just Like Your Father!

The term truculent is defined as “the eagerness or quickness to fight; to be aggressive or defiant”. In my work of SELF-psychology, it is the creation of an “outer shield” a defensive posture to prevent others from being able to look within the “softness” or vulnerability of the psychological self. However, the outlying impact is also upon the fathers of these children who are themselves scarred, victimized, and impacted from their own childhood traumas and therefore the lack of emotional access, being powerless and never being able to understand the pain or the storm that Baldwin calls “the storm that rages in your youth.”

The Hidden Direction: The Raging Storm

In Baldwin’s writing to his nephew, about his father there is, in my opinion, a hidden direction regarding the message in his statement of “the storm that rages in your youth today about the reality that lies behind the words acceptance and integration.” I believe that this message without Baldwin specifically stating, is being directed at the nephew’s father. This is further evidenced by Baldwin’s following statements about his brother (nephew’s father)

“… he had a terrible life. He was defeated long before he died because he believed what white people said about him.”

Conceptualizing Intergenerational Trauma

Baldwin’s words pointing out the similarities between the nephew and his father serve to unearth, what has long been felt within the African American community, and yet not fully understood: the psychological impacts of “intergenerational trauma.” This occurs when the original traumatic experience is transferred from parents to children and then grandchildren and so on.

I will limit the teaching aspects of the blog to provide context and understanding of intergenerational trauma and how this is central in understanding not only Baldwin’s letter to his nephew and the relationship with his father but also to understanding the abuses suffered by Tina Turner in her sixteen-year marriage to a man who was also victimized and impacted by childhood trauma.

Examples of intergenerational trauma include:

• Domestic violence
• Alcohol and drug addiction
• Child abuse and neglect
• Survivors of race related stress and conflict

Common symptoms of intergenerational trauma include:

• Low self esteem
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Anger
• Self-destructive behaviors

Causes of intergenerational trauma include:

• Parental exclusion, isolation, or incarceration
• Divorce
• Alcohol use disorder
• Domestic violence
• Child abuse (e.g., sexual, physical, or emotional)

Similarities: Psychological Impact-PTSD and Intergenerational trauma

• Hyperviligence
• Anxiety
• Mood deregulation

The Walking Dead

In writing to his nephew, Baldwin speaks his truth about his brother, telling him the following,

“Well, he is dead, he never saw you, and he had a terrible life, he was defeated long before he died because, at the bottom of his heart, he really believed what white people said about him.”  Since this writing is only from Baldwin’s perspective and we have no way of knowing how his words were received by his nephew, one can only imagine.

Momentarily, let’s allow ourselves to sit with the nephew not in 2023, rather in 1963 and listen, feel, and speak to what he as now been informed… Basically, your father:

• Never knew you or saw you for the person you are and the person you are going to be.
• Lived an extremely distressing life, a life without fulfillment or satisfaction.
• Was defeated; he never looked forward to the tomorrow’s awakening or horizon.
• Surrendered all definitions of self and integrated the hatred of Blackness.

In restating Baldwin’s words, “the storm that rages in your youth today about the reality that lies behind the words acceptance and integration,” without being directly stated, the nephew may have drawn the same conclusion that his father understood, “the reality that lies behind the words acceptance and integration”, despite all he seeks to accomplish in life, he will never, ever achieve the acceptance and integration of White people.

And … what psychologically traumatic experiences could have led James Baldwin’s brother and others of his generation to surrender within themselves to hatred and yet continue to seek a better life of “acceptance and integration” for their children? 

Conflicts & Suffering… What About the Smoldering Fire… This Time?

Baldwin in his writing of “The Fire Next Time” explores religion and racial injustice in mid-century America.  The book written for white audiences with the focus on helping them understand the Black American experience and struggle for equal rights. The book focuses on three themes authority, religion, and love. Baldwin’s works helped raise public awareness, namely White public awareness, of racial and sexual oppression and he raised these challenges on the national stage in America since it promised equality and justice for all.

Crossroads: The Luxury of Racial Justice or Surviving Day to Day

James Baldwin’s writing, “The Fire Next Time” was a masterpiece in exploring religion and racial injustice in mid-century America.  He achieved success in assisting White America in understanding the Black American experience and struggle for equal rights. And yet we must understand the limitations of Baldwin’s writing.  Quite capable to exploring issues of religion and racial injustice in mid century America, he was not equipped to explore or speak to the psychological impacts and traumas wreaking havoc on those engaged in the Black experience.  Mixed within those were seeking the “luxury’ of equal rights were also those seeking to survive day to day physically and psychologically from daily macro aggressions (overt threats of physical death) and micro aggressions (interpersonal forms of bias and discrimination).

Advocacy… Balance… Calmness…

Currently I am sitting in the harbor of Milna on the Dalmatian coastline on the Adriatic Sea. This is a good place to stop momentarily in the blog.  So, what have I learned?  I have learned that intergenerational trauma can be quiet in nature and form, yet its impact is insidious with a long-extended reach into future generations unknown and unseen. 

I have learned to soften my anger and work toward seeking more understanding and empathy to those caught in the throttles of domestic violence.  Tina Turner was victimized in a severe domestically violent relationship that included physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse. She stayed in this terrible relationship for 16 years.  Others may toss out at her the big question… Why? Why did she not leave?  For various reasons she could not, would not and did not.  Yet one day… she did, and her life is forever transformed. Tina Turner is not a survivor of domestic violence. As a survivor all one can do… is survive.  Instead, Tina became a driver (empowering the psychological self), a striver (setting the direction and pace) and finally an achiever (identifying objectives and accomplishing specific goals).

As for Ike Turner, his legacy will remain that of an abusive man who tortured and terrified his spouse and children.  However, he too, was a victim of childhood abuse as was his father before him.  He too was psychologically impacted by integrational trauma as was his father before him.  Does the history of childhood trauma and intergenerational trauma either excused or justified his behavior?  The answer is a resounding NO. 

Perhaps in the generations of Ike’s father and those preceding mental health services and treatment were either not available or recognized within the community.  However, such is not the situation during Ike Turner’s marriage to Tina Turner or anyone today who is involved in such behaviors.  Ike Turner, men of his generation and men today are responsible, accountable and will be held to the consequences of the physical and psychological injuries caused by their actions.

Well, it has been my pleasure to share insight with my readership. look forward to the 3^rd segment of my blog subtitled The Perilous Journey: The Decision at the Crossroads.

A good night, safe travels, calmness in walking your landscapes. I bid you peace and emotional wellness.

Dr. Kane

Until We Meet Again… I am the Visible Man.

The Visible Man: The Perilous Journey… Walking One’s Landscape

Part I

“The very time I thought I was lost, my dungeon shook and my chains fell off”.

– James Baldwin “My Dungeon Shook” (1963)

My Dear Readers,

I bid you greetings and wellness.  It has been several months since I last wrote a blog.  I have stepped away from both my writings and involvement in my clinical practice to focus on severe health related issues.  As I continue my recovery, I am now faced with the major task of resetting… restarting my direction and engaging in moving forward onto the next stage of my life’s journey.

Next month, I will have achieved a milestone; my 70^th birthday.  I will be entering my seventh decade of life as a Black man residing in America.  I am at an age that most individuals would be considering retirement or semi-retirement from active life. And yet there remains other options as well. 

In writing this blog, I am currently traveling in Eastern Europe visiting the countries of Slovenia and Croatia located in the Balkans bordering the Adriatic Sea and the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea.  My trip will conclude in Amsterdam and The Netherlands where I shall visit the home of Anne Frank, the child author who perished in the concentration camp of Auschwitz at the age of 15.

It is with deep appreciation that in writing this blog, I will utilize excerpts from the writings of James Baldwin who, in 1963, wrote to his 14-year-old nephew about what it was like to be a Black person in America. The title of his essay, “The Fire Next Time”, means Black People have been trapped and limited by racism for a long time.  During this trip, I will seek to limit my writing and stay focused on the area of my specialty and training, clinical traumatology.

Direction & Themes

I seek to tie together common themes explored by Baldwin and what life experiences I have had as a Black person over my 70 years. In my writing, I seek to explore what it meant in “coming of age” and the lack of preparation which was common for many of us as children being born following the ending of World War II, the domestic terrorism and segregation of the 1950’s and the turbulence of 1960’s along with the era of the Civil Rights movement.

“Coming of Age”

Reflecting on comments of Whites responding to their feelings of “Coming of Age” there are affirmations to such life being modeled in television sitcoms including “Leave It to Beaver” featuring a typical White middle class family of four residing in comfort and ease and responding to reasonable daily living situations. It was within the White middle class structure that reaching the age of 18 was commonly considered as the significant age for young adulthood.

Sitcoms based on White middle class values such as “Leave It to Beaver”, “Father Knows Best”, “The Donna Reed Show” and “Family Affair” lacked any Black characters, stories about the challenges of Black people or semblance to Black family life in America. Yet it was vested and psychologically utilized as the model of what Blacks needed to be like, in order to be able to achieve “acceptance” and “integration” by Whites.

The Childhood Ascension into Adulthood

As a child of the 50’s born in the ghettoized North and raised in the segregated South, my “coming of age” coincided with the publication of James Baldwin’s book in 1963. By the age of 10, I had observed lynchings, the March on Washington, the Woolworth Sit in, lunch counter and bus boycotts, Alabama’s Governor George Wallace Standing in the School House Door, the Assassination of Medgar Evers, the Church Bombing in Birmingham, and Martin Luther King’s writings from the Birmingham Jail.

The Children’s Crusade… Soldiers Going Off to War.

At the age of 10, I vividly recall the hymn of “We Shall Overcome” offering courage, comfort, and hope as protestors confronted prejudices and hate in the battle for equal rights for African Americans. I faintly recall our parents sending us off to be on the frontline of integration in elementary school. 

As “soldiers” we were ill prepared for a war that our parents decided for us to fight. Following our parents’ advice of how to respond when called a “nigger”, being spat upon, or when other hurtful words were spewed in our direction by either ignoring them or answering with the verse: “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never harm me” that was, in reality, a lie and yet the only words they could offer to protect us.

 This was the time that Black parents were not allowed to accompany their children to school but instead, had to rely on an ill-prepared and often non-wanting and undesiring educational system to protect us from physical and verbal abuse.   

The Children’s Crusade & Veterans of War: Forgotten, Abandoned or Lost Memoires?

As the focus has been the Civil Rights movement, integration, and acceptance. Without our consent, understanding and adhering to the obedience of our parents to fight a war which to we were ill equipped and unprepared for.

The outlying questions for us as veterans of the Children’s Crusade, becomes our unspoken reality into seeking to bring meaning to our experience:

• Are our experiences understood? …. and have we been forgotten?
• Have we been sacrificed and abandoned? … for the “better good’ for future generations?
• Are our memories lost? …. Who will tell our stories?

Sitting here in the town of Peiljesac on the Dalmatian Peninsula in Croatia off the Adriatic Sea, I am at peace within the psychological self… seeking to heal the psychological wounds of my troubled past.  My commitment to my sisters and brothers of the Children’s Crusade is simple… We will not be forgotten or abandoned and our memories will be passed onward to future generations….

AND…. the impacts and effects of how such unresolved childhood traumas have followed us into adulthood.

 Now…. onward as we follow the words of James Baldwin to his nephew written in 1963 and in comparison, with our lives today by me in 2023.

James Baldwin writes in 1963.

“You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in many ways as possible, that you are a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence; you were expected to make peace with mediocrity.”

Dr. Micheal Kane, Clinical Traumatologist writes in 2023.

The theme which remains consistent within the last 60 years is the expectation of the Black person not aspiring to excellence and the expectation that you are to “make peace with mediocrity.”  The gaming of White Supremacy has made subtle changes allowing “exceptions” such as Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice US Supreme Court and Tom Scott, Senator, South Carolina to have “a seat” at the table.  The purpose of such strategy is to provide a model, in other words, “the savory carrot” for African Americans desiring “a seat” and seeking acceptance and integration into White society. 

Today the change is one from overt racism to covert racism.  Whereas overt racism is deliberate and open, covert racism is a subtle act that is less easily spotted due to its indirect nature. Usually initiated with intent, a covert racist act can also be done unconsciously and when in action, goes unchecked it can result in having more psychological impact by wounding than the overt act of racism.

Covert Racism -Differencing Conscious & Unconscious Racism

The difference being during James Baldwin’s writing, the overt act of racism was “expected’ and therefore Blacks were prepared to expect and develop resources to protect or respond.  However today, Whites consciously holding racist beliefs have learned new methods and benefitted from methods to cover or hide racist attitudes.  Furthermore, Whites with unconscious racist beliefs can create psychological distress due to the lack of preparedness and wanton open exposure to the abuse. My experiences of such covert racism would be:

• Covert (conscious hidden)-being directed to leave the residence of a white colleague/friend following small dispute and later the white colleague/friend never addressing the incident. 
• Covert (unconscious)-while attending as a resident, being misidentified as a service person (doorman, waiter, or entertainer).
• Racial Innocents- allows the individual to claim “purity of heart” regarding intentions associated the act and not wanting to accept responsibility for the creation of psychological injury/wounding. This is achieved by outright denial of racist intent by the pretense of the non-existence of the incident, creating distress or deflection as in the misidentification “my wife knows that at times I say stupid things.”

This is a good place to stop and recharge in moving along with “The Perilous Journey.” I leave my beloved readership with the understanding that my words have not been concluded. As stated earlier, we will not be forgotten or abandoned, and our memories will be passed onward to future generations….

“The storm which rages about your youthful head today, which lies behind the words acceptance and integration.”

– James Baldwin, 1963

Becoming Unstuck: Live In The Present, Not In The Past

These words are reflective of a White woman, in writing to me, sharing her wisdom of my experience as a Black man approaching 70 years of experiencing life in among a sea of Whiteness in America. She states in summing up the problem of me, “being stuck” and providing the answer which of course makes absolute sense in her mind, in becoming “unstuck” which is to “Live in the present, not in the past.”

The young woman, raised in the privilege and the values of White Innocence, blinded by what is clearly visual… it is she and not I who is “stuck”.  However rather than living in the past… it is she and not I who remains a prisoner of the past. The concept of being imprisoned will be explored in the writings of …. The Perilous Journey.

Tomorrow, I will remerge with Part 2: The Perilous Journey: The Less We Forget, The More We Remember.

A good night, safe travels, and calmness in walking your landscapes. I bid you peace and emotional wellness.  Until tomorrow.

Dr. Kane  

Until We Meet Again… I am the Visible Man.

The Unspoken Truth: The Black in Blue… Broken Trust & The Fallout Within the African American Community

Transcription from body camera footage of Memphis PD (MPD) Officers filmed during the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, January 7, 2023 – traffic stop.

MPD Officer: “Get the fuck out of the car.”

Nichols: “Alright, I am on the ground.”

MPD Officer: “Bitch, put your (hands) behind your back before I break them.”

Nichols: “You guys are doing a lot right now…I’m just trying to get home.”

(Two officers hit and kick Nicholas as he is on the ground)

Nichols: (screaming) “Mooooom!”

(Nichols continues to call for his mother for a while)

“I am going to baton the fuck out of you.  Give me your fucking hands.”

–        (MPD) Officer, transcribed from body-cam footage recorded during the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.

“I was hitting him with straight haymakers, dog.”

–        (MPD) Officer, transcribed from body-cam footage recorded during the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.

“You are going to see acts that defy humanity.”

–        Cerelyn (C.J.) Davis, Chief of Police, Memphis Police Department

“Yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day.”

–        Joseph (Joe) Biden, President, United States

“It was clearly excessive force. What’s even more troubling is no officer was willing to intervene and say, Stop.”

–        Lt. Darin Porcher, NYPD (Retired) and CNN commentor.

“The Memphis Police Association would, again, like to extend condolences to the family of Mr. Tyre Nichols. The Memphis Police Association is committed to the administration of justice and NEVER condones the mistreatment of ANY citizen nor ANY abuse of power. We have faith in the Criminal Justice System. That faith is what we will lean on in the coming days, weeks, and months to ensure the totality of circumstances is revealed. Mr. Nichols’ family, the City of Memphis, and the rest of the country deserve nothing less. We pray for justice, healing, and eventual closure for all involved.”

–        The Memphis Police Association, Official statement issued January 27, 2023, via Facebook.

“I am still trying to understand all of this and trying to wrap my head around all of this.  I will never have my baby. I’ll never have my baby again.”

–        RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols

“I don’t want us burning up our cities, tearing up the streets, because that’s not my son stood for… “And if you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully.”

–        RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nicholas, statement given before footage was made public.

My Dear Readers,

Here we are again. Barely two years following the death of George Floyd, three years following the death of Breonna Taylor and, 30 years following the brutal beating of Rodney King. Once again there is the death of another Black man due to police brutality and misconduct.  The numerous deaths of African Americans people by the police have been “normed” meaning “accepted” in both Black and White communities.

Although the African American community has been identified as among the most economically and politically powerful people of African descent in the world today, psychologically speaking we remain unable to protect our community members from the oppression of others outside of our community.  We remain psychologically mired in what I have defined in my clinical practice as two distinct groups “Existers” i.e., existing as in “The Waiting Dead” and “Survival-ship” i.e., survivors as in “Walking Wounded.”  

The tragedy of the beating death of Tyre Nichols is affirmation of the “Survival-ship” status that mires the African American community.  This community is policed and law-and- order enforced by a system that is steeped in systematic and structural racism.  During the 1950’s and early 1960’s the civil rights movement challenged police brutality and other forms of racial segregation and discrimination in the urban North and the Jim Crow system in the American South.

The brutality by the five Black officers on a helpless individual brings memories to when law enforcement on Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, attacked 600 unarmed protestors using Billy clubs, tear gas, and police dogs.  The common theme of the time was the prevalence of all white policing in African American communities and the police brutality that was the result. 

The five Black police officers responsible for the death of Tyre Nichols are continuing the tradition of a system that is steeped in systematic and structural racism. The media seeks to portray this as a situation in which five Black police officers beat to death a Black man.  Yet the news media is intentionally omitting the systemic and structurally racist system that these men work within and committed to “serve and protect.”

This systemic and structurally racist system of policing began in the 18^th century as slave catchers. These were organized groups of armed men who monitored, controlled, and enforced discipline upon enslaved people. Policing today has not changed in the way it interacts with African American communities. When compared to White communities, who continue to receive community protection and policing services, African American communities and African Americans continue to be treated with a heavy hand i.e., enforcement, regulation, and control.

Broken Trust…

I recently published a post on social media, specifically LinkedIn, as to my pointed remarks following the death of Tyre Nichols.

I work as a clinical traumatologist. My clinical caseload consists primary of African American patients.

I have patients who feel violated and betrayed.  There are individuals who don’t understand the meaning of systematic and structural racism.  What they see and understand are five Black police officers beating to death another Black man.  The trust that was there in “the Black wearing the Blue” has been shattered.

Below are my writings on social media:

Time Heals Wounds…

To those who state that time heals wounds.  Not true.  Time is merely time. It is what one does with time.  Trust is an individual gift not a collective quality to be assigned, assumed, or simply given away.  If the police accept what is real, trust with the African American community is a one-on-one relationship. 

There is a knife cutting deeply and silently into the hearts of the African American community.  There lies deep the psychological wounding of Betrayal Trauma. There was a time in which Black police officers were extended grace, given the difficult position of being police and working in police departments, where they too, like other members of the African American community, were in hostile work environments.

The grace Black police officers had, given the actions of five police officers in Memphis, TN is gone.  These horrific acts caught on video, have been seen and witnessed by millions.

Trauma has permanency… Trauma never ever goes away.

The vision of Black police officers as “our guardians or protectors” evaporated in the beating death of Tyre Nichols by five BLACK police officers.  Instead of screaming racism (yes, structural and systemic racism is alive and well), will the African American community, not the politicians or the pastors, but the community look within itself to question and seek solutions?  Or do we continue to look for politicians and pastors to speak for us.

Hopefully, the police and the African American community will accept the challenges that now exists.

Time does not heal wounds… People and actions do.

 Sharing Images of Police Brutality …. Taking Care of SELF

True… Sharing images of police brutality is not allyship.  It’s exposing the truth.

True… Sharing images of five Black police officers laughing after severely beating a helpless Black man who subsequently dies from the beating is traumatizing. 

And now what? What do we do, understanding the psychological trauma we have been exposed to. We remember the severe beating of Rodney King suffered by the police in 1991.  Now 31 years later, another young Black man beaten, tortured and this time, dead as a result of police misconduct.  Again, what actions will you take?  Please support BLM.  Although this man’s life did not matter to those who took it… by your actions, say how it matters to you.

As for therapy, the time for ending the holding of secrets, pain, and emotional suffering can be now.  Become the master of your destiny, seek the journey of self-discovery.  Stop following the Groupthink about the negativity associated with psychotherapy. 

Trauma is permanent.  It never ever goes away.  One cannot unseen what has been seen.

Stop looking towards your community and society to move you from “Survival-ship” to empowerment.

The time can be now.  The choices of continuing to run the hard race or begin running a smart race remains.  The decision is yours.

Reflections…

My Dear Readers,

In writing this blog, recent news media stories have indicated that two additional Memphis Police Department officers and two Shelby County Sheriff deputies were placed on administrative leave while an internal investigation has been launched into their conduct following the police assault on Tyre Nichols.  Furthermore, three Memphis Fire Department emergency medical technicians, including a lieutenant, command level and supervisory officer were terminated for violation of numerous policies and protocols in responding to the medical call in the provision of aid to Tyre Nichols.

James Baldwin, a prolific African American writer, in his 1985 book, The Evidence of Things Not Seen, wrote this about “Black cops”:

“Black policemen were another matter.  We used to say, “if you just must call a policeman”—for we hardly ever did— “for God’s sake, try to make sure it’s a White one.”  A Black policeman could completely demolish you.  He knew far more about you than a White policeman could, and you were without defenses before this Black brother in uniform whose entire reason for breathing seemed to be his hope to offer proof that, though he was Black, he was not Black like you.”

I am pained by these words.  I come from a family steeped in public service to this country. My older brother served during the Vietnam War, returning psychologically traumatized and disabled.  His life ended, dying in a drunkard stupor. My younger brother served 20 years in the California state correction system, rising in the ranks from Corrections Officer to Warden.  He also was psychologically impacted by the horrors he observed during his watch.  My father faithfully served his country in the US military, serving 20 years including three tours during the Vietnam War.  Following his retirement, he went on to serve 20 additional years as a federal police officer.  My father was proud to put on his uniform and badge and to “serve and protect.”

 He once boasted that if he was shot in the line of duty, he would “bleed blue.” He loved being a police officer.   Yet he never understood that he was being used, played, and manipulated by a system mired in systemic and structural racism.  At his death and following his 20 years of faithful service to “serve and protect” his police department failed to provide either an honor guard, condolences to the family, flowers, or any acknowledgement.

Resentful? Nope.  Just an acknowledgement of what occurs when one commits to a cancerous system that is racked with racism that devours those who seek to “serve and protect,” The actions of the five Black officers are indictive of James Baldwin’s concluding words… “this Black brother in uniform whose entire reason for breathing seemed to be his hope to offer proof that, though he was Black, he was not Black like you.”

The words of James Baldwin are psychologically impactful and reinforces the falseness of the oath to “serve and protect.” The oath is mired in the cancer of systemic and structural racism. And yet, the tragic death of Tyre Nichols and its brutality administered by five police officers of likewise racial and community belongings brings forth the reality within the African American community that Black in Blue is no longer recognizable.  The death of Tyre Nichols is a profound statement… BLUE…BLUE and forever BLUE.

Concluding Words by Dr. Kane

In response to the actions resulting in the death of Trye Nichols, a reader stated:

“More poignant that we find this extreme behavior among Black policemen, but it is manifested across all institutions.  For example, Black social workers make the same decisions regarding black children and families as do white social workers.  This abusive behavior is driven by a mix of policy and social distancing.”

The reader makes a strong point, the failure would be for the African American community and others concerned, to target systemic and structural racism only within policing when in fact the policy and social distancing is inherently mired in the cancer of systemic and structural racism throughout the institutions of serving these communities.

I began this writing by defining the African American community as being psychologically mired in two distinct groups i.e., “Existers” as in “The Waiting Dead” and “Survival-ship” as in the “Walking Wounded”.  

These two groups are the mainstream of Groupthink, which is the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility. It is a phenomenon that occurs when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the consequences or alternatives.  Groupthink is based on a common desire not to upset the balance of a group of people.

Groupthink in the context within the African American community occurs when two distinct groups “Existers” and “Survival-ship”, are reacting to the state of “living in fear.”  A response or alternative to Groupthink is one that would encourage creativity and individual responsibility.  This response will be the movement of a third group known as “Walking the Landscape”. The intent henceforth would be reinforcing driving (empowerment), striving (setting pace and direction) and thriving (accomplishing goals and objectives).

Groupthink is inherent within the African American community. Historically, change has been motivated, initiated, and directed by leadership designated by others including politicians, churches and civic leaders. For the community to move away from the status of existing and survival ship, new innovative programming must be developed coming from within the community at the grassroots level that will inspire and encourage the creativity and individual responsibility and move them toward the third group, “Walking the Landscape.”

The African American community is psychologically impacted and traumatized by repeated assaults of systemic and structural racism. Psychological healing of the wounded is essential for its members to achieve emotional wellness and empowerment of wellbeing.

The process of empowerment, known as “Journey of Self Discovery,” is an alternative to the downward spiraling of Groupthink currently mired within those who are pressured to conform, fearful of exposing any vulnerability, reacting to group censorship, and desiring to question values and belief systems. We all stand at the crossroads of life… facing choices in which we decide on the direction that is to be taken.

Walking the landscape

Returning To the Scene of The Crime

I want to return to the scene of the crime

I do not want to go back.  I want to go forward

Going back can brings pain, suffering and unresolved memories

Returning, and moving forward…I am armed with wisdom and knowledge, which I now take into the future.

Whatever I was, I am no longer.

The past is what it was.  It cannot be recovered.

I live for today.  To understand and uncover.

I seek the tomorrow.  To explore and discover…

Self.

Dr. Micheal Kane

Standing Alone… The Unspoken Truth

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/27/us/tyre-nichols-memphis-friday/index.html

Memphis Police Association Facebook Page

The Evidence of Things Not Seen – James Baldwin

In Our Corner: Unwanted and Undesired Without The Village

“Donovan was unarmed, and he was abiding by police commands to come out of his room when he was shot in cold blood by Officer Anderson.”

-Rex Elliott, Attorney for the Lewis Family

“There was no justification—let me be clear—no justification for officer Anderson to shoot an unarmed man trying to get out of bed as police officers were instructing him to do so.  Donovan was asleep before officers arrived and had warning that CPD would burst into his apartment.”

-Rex Elliott, attorney for the Lewis Family

“They (the family) want this police officer punished, …. not permitted to be out on the streets again.  We anticipated filing an action against the police officer that engaged in this reckless conduct.”

-Rex Elliott, Attorney for the Lewis Family

“They are just a few of the many people that have had their lives altered forever because of the events of early Tuesday morning.”

-Rex Elliott, Attorney for the Lewis Family, referring to Donovan’s parents, siblings, grandmother, aunt and family friends

“He wasn’t armed. He wasn’t dangerous. He wasn’t America’s most wanted. He was just Donovan.”

-Reverend Jemimah Posey, comments at the Donovan Lewis funeral

“Fear is your enemy. Trust in God. The North Star will guide you.”

-The Black preacher advising Harriet as she prepares to flee bondage, the movie Harriet (2019)

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My Dear Readers,

Here we go again. Another young Black life taken much too soon, under circumstances that are unimaginable yet imaginable, unbelievable yet very believable, and incomprehensible, yet expected by Black folks, having repeatedly endured this nightmare.

Donovan Lewis’s death by police action follows a line of recent deaths by police including George Floyd, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott and countless others, the most recent being Jayland Walker, who was shot 46 times, including 8 shotgun blasts, over a traffic violation. He had refused to pull over and ran from his vehicle.  The police allegedly recovered a firearm from the car, so they said.

Meanwhile, a worried community of Black folks, nationwide are sitting, nervously awaiting the outcome of the most recent shooting.  Here speaks the concerns and frustrations of one parent:

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Dear Dr. Kane,

I am the mother of three sons ages 16, 12 and 8.  The killing of that black young man in Columbus OH by the police has frightened me to the point where I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, and I am unable to focus on work because I am so scared for the safety of my sons. I am southern born and raised, and although I now live in Washington State, I have long memories of police brutalizing and terrorizing Black males. I am very frightened and concerned.

I have no place to turn for help.  I have spoken to my pastor and all he tells me is to fear not, pray and trust in God.  I am a good Christian. School has now begun, and I place anointing oil on my sons every morning as I send them out to school and still it is simply not enough! I am so afraid for my children.

I just don’t understand the lack of response.  Black folks in church are talking about these killings and yet there is nothing being done about it.  It’s like since it hasn’t happened to them, they are not concerned, however, it may happen to my sons.  I am living in fear. I go to bed afraid and wake up afraid.

My sons are well mannered, are attentive and love school and sports. I know that they get profiled because of their race.  In reaching out to Black men for assistance, the attitude has been one of indifference.  More than one suggested that I need to get accustomed to police interaction and racial profiling as this is going to be an ongoing occurrence in their lives.  I have asked the men at the church to talk to my sons but all they want to do is to talk about football. 

It takes a village! I feel that my community– my village– church and black men have failed me.  I wish the Black men in the church would come together to teach our children how to be safe when interacting with the police.  I am unable to talk to my white coworkers as they think I am being paranoid.  I am concerned that my older son will mouth off should he be confronted by the police.  My middle child was recently stopped and questioned by the police because they said he looks older and my youngest is afraid to sleep in his bed after watching the news about that Black man being killed in his bed by the police.  He has now returned to wetting the bed and is afraid to sleep alone.

I have sought help from my church and the people in my community.  Although I am being told not to be afraid and to pray, I am more fearful and desperate for more help to protect my children.  When I get a notification on my cell from one of my sons, I become overwhelmed with fear. I can’t think, I am shaking. It is only until I have assurance that they are okay that I can relax.  And then there is the next time.   It’s like I am waiting for the negative to happen.  Am I being paranoid?  Do you have any suggestions? I would appreciate hearing back from you.

Village Mom Seeking Assistance, Bellevue, WA

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My Dear Readers,

In the writer’s statement, she mentions that “it takes a village,” referring to the African proverb that speaks to the cultural and societal belief that family, community and communalism are needed to teach, develop, and protect a child through adulthood. While this sentiment has strong psychological and emotional roots within the values of Black Americans, the ongoing and consistent psychological and emotional pressures being faced by the Black American community, many caused by its own deficiencies and weaknesses, render it unable to protect itself from macroaggressions that result in the psychological harm and/or physical deaths of its children.  Although the idea of the “village” permeates the community, this is not the lived reality being experienced by this parent seeking assistance from her church and within the community.  Comments from the black men in her community merely acknowledge the indifference.  

It is the natural instinct for a parent to want to protect one’s child from danger.  However, as Black parents seek balance, it would be beneficial to teach our children how to empower themselves as they are being prepared to enter an environment that is hostile and suspicious to both their ethnicity, race and gender.

                        FEAR: Conceptualizing the Psychological & Emotional Impacts

Fear can be defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat.  For this parent, several subtypes of trauma, including microaggression (racial profiling by the police) macroaggression (physical injury/death), and invisibility syndrome (fear that her sons’ talents, abilities and character are not acknowledged or valued) combine to induce the distress that she shares in her letter.

Fear has psychologically and emotionally impacted the African American community to the point where it has been stuck in the status of existence, that is, the acceptance of an imposed way of life and survival.

Historically, the Black community has faced continuous and consistent pressure in the form of violence, domestic terrorism and state sanctioned laws/ordinances such as the Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, Sundown laws, and redlining.  Although its members are capable of achieving and advancing in industry, economics, medicine, arts and letters, they remained blocked in stages of existing and survivorship and “living in FEAR,” a psychological and emotional status which continues to limit the community to this very day. Therefore, “living in FEAR” can be viewed as the following:

F (foundation) the justifications or cause of held beliefs.

E (expectations) strong beliefs that something will happen or be the case in the future.

A (assumptions) things that are accepted as true or certain to happen.

R (reality) the world that is being experienced or the state of things as they actually exist.

In this conceptualization of fear, African Americans are simply reacting to their deeply held beliefs and experiences based on their 403 years of experience in this country, through direct experience and passed downward intergenerationally. 

In reconceptualizing fear, it is essential that Black people recognize the psychological impacts of internalizing fear and seek transformation towards the following:

• Fear is not the enemy. It is simply an emotion that is a normal response to a specific situation.  
• Fear during times of danger can serve as a positive attribute in assisting the individual in being aware, alert, aroused, aloof and most importantly …staying alive.
• Rather than rejecting fear, we must want to embrace and integrate it as an aid that can move the individual from surviving an ordeal to empowerment psychologically. 

By holding on to the illusion of village communalism as “acting as one,” the Black American community is not psychologically or emotionally prepared to conceptually transform from “living in FEAR” to “living with FEAR.”

Reconceptualizing FEAR

Psychologically and emotionally, “living in FEAR” has been a disservice because it limits the group’s options for response to this trauma to acceptance of a way of life and survival, or simply existing.

In reconceptualizing fear, it is essential that fear be viewed as a resource that can be utilized to move individual forward, not as preventing them from achieving goals, objectives and outcomes.

Therefore “living with FEAR” can be viewed as the following:

F (facing) confronting, accepting or dealing with a difficult task, fact or situation.

E (embracing) accepting or supporting a belief willingly and enthusiastically.

A (acknowledging) accepting or appreciation of the truth or recognition of fact or an object.

R (responding) the advocacy of reply as in words or in action.

To this end, the Black parent can consider the following:  

• Letting go of the concept of the “village” i.e., communalism and accept the reality of the fragmented and weakened community structure. 
• Reject the advice to “not be afraid” and view fear as what is simply is: an emotion to respond to.
• Transform the response of desperation to one of empowerment. Develop strategies that will reduce feelings of helplessness and reinforce safety regarding the children’s interaction with police.

There can be nothing stronger, more meaningful and more built on belief, faith and trust, (BFT) than the love a Black mother has for her child.  Understanding their fears, given the history of police interaction with Black males and the risk of death, incarceration and trauma it is imperative that Black mothers transform from “living in FEAR” by implementing developmental strategies that will empower their children and thereby allowing the parent to be able to wake and sleep every day with empowerment “living with FEAR.”

Behavioral Strategies-Police Interactions

“Mama said life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you are going to get.”

-Forrest Gump (1994),

In her letter, the Black parent alleges that she was told that she “need(ed) to get used to police interaction and racial profiling as these are going to be ongoing occurrences.”

These comments are partially correct; in the lives of Black people, especially with males, racial profiling and police interaction ARE going to be ongoing occurrences.  However, what is incorrect is the belief that this is something to get used to. Words can have powerful psychological impacts on those who hear them, and in this case, what comes across is further trauma and insensitivity to the lived experience.  Specifically, the word “need” as a verb, defined as to “require (something) because it is essential or very important. In essence, this Black parent is being told that it is very important for her to get used to these brutal injustices.

The Black parent (s) can best serve their children and themselves by

• Transformation- moving from positions of survival and desperation to that of living, growth and development.
• Education of their children and themselves in the expectation and normalizing of police interaction.
• Psychological/emotional preparation for possible racial profiling. When interaction with the police occurs, it is unknown what type of prejudice (cognitive, affective or conative) will be involved in the interaction.

Understanding ABC’s of Behavior

The Black parent can also reinforce self-empowerment in their children by normalizing the police stop or interaction, and by teaching them to accept their internalized fears when responding to police directions and interactions.  The fear of police in our community is normal and some police want the individual to be fearful as it allows them to maintain control.  However, it is essential that the individual maintain a “sense of presence” by “living with FEAR” and not “living in FEAR”.  This can be achieved by teaching your children the following:

• (A) Advocacy– Know when to “hold” or “show” your cards.  Know when to speak and what to say.
• (B) Balance– Remember that your power lies within you and cannot be taken from you without your consent.  Balance your anger with your wisdom.
• (C) Calmness– Use your balance and your empowerment to project calmness to the outside world.  Use this to defuse the situation.

When Black Males Encounter the Police

 “My sons are well mannered, are attentive and love school and sports. I know that they get profiled because of their race.” 

-Village Mom Seeking Assistance

This is true of many black children. However, it is important to remember that police officers, in interacting with numerous different individuals on a daily basis, carry their internalized prejudices with them, including, but not limited to the belief that some individuals, particularly African Americans, are not “well mannered, or attentive”.  Black youth can impower themselves by planning out their actions and behaviors when they encounter law enforcement:

• Know that the police officer will ask for identification and that it is legal for the police officer to do so.
• Know that the police officer will seek verification in a criminal database to identify any warrants or other notices.
• Know that the police officer will be looking for suspicious behavior from the individual being questioned or anyone who is in company of the individual.
• Be prepared for a possible “stop and search” of one’s personal space (body) and belongings.

The Police Encounter

• Never…Never.. Ever …run from the police.

• Remember, that the police officer is entitled to use deadly force if he/she feels physically threatened.

The Black parent must emphasize these two points with their children as the first and most important parts of a process to ensure their safety during an encounter with the police. The rest of the process includes the following:

• Immediately telling the police officer: I AM UNARMED.  I AM NOT A THREAT TO YOU
• Always comply and follow the police officer’s instructions.  Speak in a respectful tone.
• If you are under the age of 18, immediately inform the police officer of your age.
• If you are under the age of 18, immediately request that your parent, legal guardian or legal representative be present prior to answering questions.
• If you are above the age of 18, and have chosen not to speak, inform the police officer of your intent to remain silent until you have legal representation.  Afterwards, immediately stop talking.
• Use your powers of observation.  Document the incident and any concerns regarding ant behaviors occurring during the encounter. Memory can lapse quickly.  Document immediately following the encounter.
• Remember to document following information: the date, time and location; the license plate and vehicle number, the badge number of the police officer and the name of the police department.
• DO NOT seek to resolve your complaint in the street.  File a formal complaint
• with the Internal Affairs Section within the local sheriff or police department.

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Concluding Words-Dr. Kane

“I have asked the men at the church to talk to my sons but all they want to do is to talk about football.” 

-Village Mom Seeking Assistance

“Black people love their children with a kind of obsession.  You are all we have, and you come to us endangered.”

-Ta-Nehisi Coates, Author “Between the World and Me. (2015)

Dear Village Mom Seeking Assistance,

In responding to your letter, I have sought to provide ideas, strategies, concepts and protocols that could be utilized in transforming fear and empowering your children and self. You have written that your village, church and Black men have failed you at the time in which you needed them the most.  I encourage you to transform from the positions of desperation and helplessness to that of empowerment and growth, preparing your sons to protect themselves during encounters with police.  Racial profiling is an uneasy reality in the lives of Black people.

Please dismiss the notion of paranoid as indicated by your white coworkers.  As a Black person, you are responding to your lived experience, which has included frequent incidences of brutality towards Black males.  As a parent with three sons, you are displaying vigilance to abnormal experiences that your white coworkers have no direct knowledge or experience with. Simply stated, when your white coworkers get encountered by the police, they receive “community policing, while your sons, during similar encounters, receive “law enforcement” instead.

Holding to your strength in your Christian faith, it is important for you to channel the belief, faith and trust you have in your village, church and Black men to the self, which will enable you to empower your sons in expecting and normalizing upcoming police encounters. Once again, it is essential to let go of the concept that “fear is the enemy” and instead, see fear as a desired and wanted emotion  that can assist you and your sons in keeping them  aware, alert, aroused, aloof and most importantly…alive.  It would be most advantageous for you to stop looking and depending on assistance that is not forthcoming and look within your abilities to provide the assistance in developing the strategies that will empower and protect your sons.

Wishing you the best,

Dr. Kane

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“That is the philosophy of the disembodied, of a people who control nothing, who can protect nothing, who are made to fear not just the criminals among them but the police who lord over them with all the moral authority of a protection racket.  It was only after that I understood love that I understood the grip of my mother’s hand. She knew that the galaxy itself could kill me, that all of me cold be shattered and all of her legacy spilled upon the curb like bum wine.”

-Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between The World And Me

IN MEMORIAM of Black Males Killed in Police Related Deaths

The universe shrank
when you went away.
Every time I thought your name,
stars fell upon me.
— Henry Dumas (poet, social activist, teacher)

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Updated June 9, 2022

Donovan Lewis, Columbus, Ohio Shot by Columbus Police Officer August 30, 2022 Daunte Demetrius Wright, October 27, 2000 – April 11, 2021 Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Shot: Brooklyn Center Police Officer	Jayland Walker, Akron, Ohio Shot: 46 times by 8 Police Officers June 27, 2022 Marvin David Scott III, 1995 – March 14, 2021 McKinney, Texas Asphyxiated: Collin County Jail Detention Officers
Patrick Lynn Warren Sr., October 7, 1968 – January 10, 2021 Killeen, Texas Shot: Killeen Police Officer	Vincent “Vinny” M. Belmonte, September 14, 2001 – January 5, 2021 Cleveland, Ohio Shot: Cleveland Police Officer
Angelo Quinto, March 10, 1990 – December 26, 2020 Antioch, California Knee on neck/Asphyxiated	Andre Maurice Hill, May 23, 1973 – December 22, 2020 Columbus, Ohio Shot: Columbus Police Officer
Casey Christopher Goodson Jr., January 30, 1997 – December 4, 2020 Columbus, Ohio Shot: Franklin County Sheriff Deputy	Angelo “AJ” Crooms, May 15, 2004 – November 13, 2020 Cocoa, Florida Shot: Brevard County Sheriff Deputies
Sincere Pierce, April 2, 2002 – November 13, 2020 Cocoa, Florida Shot: Brevard County Sheriff Deputies	Marcellis Stinnette, June 17, 2001 – October 20, 2020 Waukegan, Illinois Shot: Waukegan Police Officer
Jonathan Dwayne Price, November 3, 1988 – October 3, 2020 Wolfe City, Texas Tasered/Shot: Wolfe City Police Officer	Dijon Durand Kizzee, February 5, 1991 – August 31, 2020 Los Angeles, California Shot: Los Angeles County Police
Rayshard Brooks, January 31, 1993 – June 12, 2020 Atlanta, Georgia Shot: Atlanta Police Officer	Carlos Carson, May 16, 1984 – June 6, 2020 Tulsa, Oklahoma Pepper Sprayed/Shot in Head: Knights Inn Tulsa Armed Security Guard, former sergeant and detention officer with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office
David McAtee, August 3, 1966 – June 1, 2020 Louisville, Kentucky Shot: Louisville Metropolitan Police Officer	Tony “Tony the TIger” McDade, 1982 – May 27, 2020 Tallahassee, Florida Shot: Tallahassee Police Officers
George Perry Floyd, October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020 Powderhorn, Minneapolis, Minnesota Knee on neck/Asphyxiated: Minneapolis Police Officer	Dreasjon “Sean” Reed, 1999 – May 6, 2020 Indianapolis, Indiana Shot: Unidentified Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer
Michael Brent Charles Ramos, January 1, 1978 – April 24, 2020 Austin, Texas Shot: Austin Police Detectives	Daniel T. Prude, September 20, 1978 – March 30, 2020 Rochester, New York Asphyxiation: Rochester Police Officers
Breonna Taylor, June 5, 1993 – March 13, 2020 Louisville, Kentucky Shot: Louisville Metro Police Officers	Manuel “Mannie” Elijah Ellis, August 28, 1986 – March 3, 2020 Tacoma, Washington Physical restraint/Hypoxia: Tacoma Police Officers
William Howard Green, March 16, 1976 – January 27, 2020 Temple Hills, Maryland Shot: January 27, 2020, Prince George’s County Police Officer	John Elliot Neville, 1962 – December 4, 2019 Winston-Salem, North Carolina Asphyxiated /Heart Attack/Brain Injury: Forsyth County Sheriff Officers
Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, November 28, 1990 – October 12, 2019 Fort Worth, Texas Shot: Fort Worth Police Officer	Elijah McClain, February 25, 1996 – August 30, 2019 Aurora, Colorado Chokehold/Ketamine/Heart Attack: Aurora Police Officers and Paramedic
Ronald Greene, September 28, 1969 – May 10, 2019 Monroe, Louisiana Stun gun/Force: Louisiana State Police	Javier Ambler, October 7, 1978 – March 28, 2019 Austin, Texas Tasered/Electrocuted: Williamson County Sheriff Deputy
Sterling Lapree Higgins, October 27, 1981 – March 25, 2019 Union City, Tennessee Choke hold/Asphyxiation: Union City Police Officer and Obion County Sheriff Deputies	Gregory Lloyd Edwards, September 23, 1980 – December 10, 2018 Brevard County Jail, Cocoa, Florida Kneed, Punched, Pepper Sprayed, Tasered, and Strapped into a restraint chair with a spit hood over his head/Failure to Provide Medical Care: Brevard County Sheriffs
Emantic “EJ” Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., June 18, 1997 – November 22, 2018 Hoover, Alabama Shot: Unidentified Hoover Police Officers	Charles “Chop” Roundtree Jr., September 5, 2000 – October 17, 2018 San Antonio, Texas Shot: San Antonio Police Officer
Chinedu Okobi, February 13, 1982 – October 3, 2018 Millbrae, California Tasered/Electrocuted: San Mateo County Sheriff Sergeant and Sheriff Deputies	Anton Milbert LaRue Black, October 18, 1998 – September 15, 2018 Greensboro, Maryland Tasered/Sudden Cardiac Arrest: Greensboro Police Officers
Botham Shem Jean, September 29, 1991 – September 6, 2018 Dallas, Texas Shot: Dallas Police Officer	Antwon Rose Jr., July 12, 2000 – June 19, 2018 East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Shot: East Pittsburgh Police Officer
Saheed Vassell, December 22, 1983 – April 4, 2018 Brooklyn, New York City, New York Shot: Four Unnamed New York City Police Officers	Stephon Alonzo Clark, August 10, 1995 – March 18, 2018 Sacramento, California Shot: Sacramento Police Officers
Dennis Plowden Jr., 1992 – December 28, 2017 East Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Shot: Philadelphia Police Officer	Bijan Ghaisar, September 4, 1992 – November 27, 2017 George Washington Memorial Parkway, Alexandria, Virginia Shot: U.S. Park Police Officers
Aaron Bailey, 1972 – June 29, 2017 Indianapolis, Indiana Shot: Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officers	Charleena Chavon Lyles, April 24, 1987 – June 18, 2017 Seattle, Washington Shot: Seattle Police Officers
Fetus of Charleena Chavon Lyles (14-15 weeks), June 18, 2017 Seattle, Washington Shot: Seattle Police Officers	Jordan Edwards, October 25, 2001 – April 29, 2017 Balch Springs, Texas Shot: Balch Springs Officer
Chad Robertson, 1992 – February 15, 2017 Chicago, Illinois Shot: Chicago Police Officer	Deborah Danner,  September 25, 1950 – October 18, 2016 The Bronx, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officers
Alfred Olango, July 29, 1978 – September 27, 2016 El Cajon, California Shot: El Cajon Police Officers	Terence Crutcher, August 16, 1976 – September 16, 2016 Tulsa, Oklahoma Shot: Tulsa Police Officer
Terrence LeDell Sterling, July 31, 1985 – September 11, 2016 Washington, DC Shot: Washington Metropolitan Police Officer	Korryn Gaines, August 24, 1993 – August 1, 2016 Randallstown, Maryland Shot: Baltimore County Police
Joseph Curtis Mann, 1966 – July 11, 2016 Sacramento, California Shot: Sacramento Police Officers	Philando Castile, July 16, 1983 – July 6, 2016 Falcon Heights, Minnesota Shot: St. Anthony Police Officer
Alton Sterling, June 14, 1979 – July 5, 2016 Baton Rouge, Louisiana Shot: Baton Rouge Police Officers	Bettie “Betty Boo” Jones, 1960 – December 26, 2015 Chicago, Illinois Shot: Chicago Police Officer
Quintonio LeGrier, April 29, 1996 – December 26, 2015 Chicago, Illinois Shot: Chicago Police Officer	Corey Lamar Jones, February 3, 1984 – October 18, 2015 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Shot: Palm Beach Gardens Police Officer
Jamar O’Neal Clark, May 3, 1991 – November 16, 2015 Minneapolis, Minnesota Shot: Minneapolis Police Officers	Jeremy “Bam Bam” McDole, 1987 – September 23, 2015 Wilmington, Delaware Shot: Wilmington Police Officers
India Kager, June 9, 1988 – September 5, 2015 Virginia Beach, Virginia Shot: Virginia Beach Police Officers	Samuel Vincent DuBose, March 12, 1972 – July 19, 2015 Cincinnati, Ohio Shot: University of Cincinnati Police Officer
Sandra Bland, February 7, 1987 – July 13, 2015 Waller County, Texas Excessive Force/Wrongful Death/Suicide(?) Texas State Trooper	Brendon K. Glenn, 1986 – May 5, 2015 Venice, California Shot: May 5, 2015, Los Angeles Police Officer
Freddie Carlos Gray Jr., August 16, 1989 – April 19, 2015 Baltimore, Maryland Brute Force/Spinal Injuries: Baltimore City Police Officers	Walter Lamar Scott, February 9, 1965 – April 4, 2015 North Charleston, South Carolina Shot: North Charleston Police Officer
Eric Courtney Harris, October 10, 1971 – April 2, 2015 Tulsa, Oklahoma Shot: Tulsa County Reserve Deputy	Phillip Gregory White, 1982 – March 31, 2015 Vineland, New Jersey K-9 Mauling/Respiratory distress: Vineland Police Officers
Mya Shawatza Hall, December 5, 1987 – March 30, 2015 Fort Meade, Maryland Shot: National Security Agency Police Officers Tony Terrell Robinson, Jr., October 18, 1995 – March 6, 2015 Madison, Wisconsin Shot: Madison Police Officer	Meagan Hockaday, August 27, 1988 – March 28, 2015 Oxnard, California Shot: Oxnard Police Officer Janisha Fonville, March 3, 1994 – February 18 2015 Charlotte, North Carolina Shot: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer
Natasha McKenna, January 9, 1978 – February 8, 2015 Fairfax County, Virginia Tasered/Cardiac Arrest: Fairfax County Sheriff Deputies	Jerame C. Reid, June 8, 1978 – December 30, 2014 Bridgeton, New Jersey Shot: Bridgeton Police Officer
Rumain Brisbon, November 24, 1980 – December 2, 2014 Phoenix, Arizona Shot: Phoenix Police Officer	Tamir Rice, June 15, 2002 – November 22, 2014 Cleveland, Ohio Shot: Cleveland Police Officer
Akai Kareem Gurley, November 12, 1986 – November 20, 2014 Brooklyn, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer	Tanisha N. Anderson, January 22, 1977 – November 13, 2014 Cleveland, Ohio Physically Restrained/Brute Force: Cleveland Police Officers
Dante Parker, August 14, 1977 – August 12, 2014 Victorville, California Tasered/Excessive Force: San Bernardino County Sheriff Deputies	Ezell Ford, October 14, 1988 – August 11, 2014 Florence, Los Angeles, California Shot: Los Angeles Police Officers
Michael Brown Jr., May 20, 1996 – August 9, 2014 Ferguson, Missouri Shot: Ferguson Police Officer	John Crawford III, July 29, 1992 – August 5, 2014 Beavercreek, Ohio Shot: Beavercreek Police Officer
Tyree Woodson, July 8, 1976 – August 2, 2014 Baltimore, Maryland Shot: Baltimore City Police Officer	Eric Garner, September 15, 1970 – July 17, 2014 Staten Island, New York Choke hold/Suffocated: New York City Police Officer
Dontre Hamilton, January 20, 1983 – April 30, 2014 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Shot: Milwaukee Police Officer	Victor White III, September 11, 1991 – March 3, 2014 New Iberia, Louisiana Shot: Iberia Parish Sheriff Deputy
Gabriella Monique Nevarez, November 25, 1991 – March 2, 2014 Citrus Heights, California Shot: Citrus Heights Police Officers	Yvette Smith, December 18, 1966 – February 16, 2014 Bastrop County, Texas Shot: Bastrop County Sheriff Deputy
McKenzie J. Cochran, August 25, 1988 – January 29, 2014 Southfield, Michigan Pepper Sprayed/Compression Asphyxiation: Northland Mall Security Guards	Jordan Baker, 1988 – January 16, 2014 Houston, Texas Shot:, Off-duty Houston Police Officer
Andy Lopez, June 2, 2000 – October 22, 2013 Santa Rosa, California Shot: Sonoma County Sheriff Deputy	Miriam Iris Carey, August 12, 1979 – October 3, 2013 Washington, DC Shot 26 times: U. S. Secret Service Officer
Barrington “BJ” Williams, 1988 – September 17, 2013 New York City, New York Neglect/Disdain/Asthma Attack: New York City Police Officers	Jonathan Ferrell, October 11, 1989 – September 14, 2013 Charlotte, North Carolina Shot:, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer
Carlos Alcis, 1970 – August 15, 2013 Brooklyn, New York City Heart Attack/Neglect: New York City Police Officers	Larry Eugene Jackson Jr., November 29, 1980 – July 26, 2013 Austin, Texas Shot: Austin Police Detective
Kyam Livingston, July 29, 1975 – July 21, 2013 New York City, New York Neglect/Ignored pleas for help: New York City Police Officers	Clinton R. Allen, September 26, 1987 – March 10, 2013 Dallas, Texas Tasered and Shot: Dallas Police Officer
Kimani “KiKi” Gray, October 19, 1996 – March 9, 2013 Brooklyn, New York City, New York Shot: New York Police Officers	Kayla Moore, April 17, 1971 – February 13, 2013 Berkeley, California Restrained face-down prone:, Berkeley Police Officers
Jamaal Moore Sr., 1989 – December 15, 2012 Chicago, Illinois Shot: Chicago Police Officer	Johnnie Kamahi Warren, February 26, 1968 – February 13, 2012 Dothan, Alabama Tasered/Electrocuted: Houston County (AL) Sheriff Deputy
Shelly Marie Frey, April 21, 1985 – December 6, 2012 Houston, Texas Shot: Off-duty Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy	Darnisha Diana Harris, December 11, 1996 – December 2, 2012 Breaux Bridge, Louisiana Shot: Breaux Bridge Police Office
Timothy Russell, December 9. 1968 – November 29, 2012 Cleveland, Ohio 137 Rounds/Shot 23 times:, Cleveland Police Officers	Malissa Williams, June 20, 1982 – November 29, 2012 Cleveland, Ohio 137 Rounds/Shot 24 times: Cleveland Police Officers
Noel Palanco, November 28, 1989 – October 4, 2012 Queens, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officers	Reynaldo Cuevas, January 6, 1992 – September 7, 2012 Bronx, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer
Chavis Carter, 1991 – July 28, 2012 Jonesboro, Arkansas Shot: Jonesboro Police Officer	Alesia Thomas, June 1, 1977 – July 22, 2012 Los Angeles, California Brutal Force/Beaten: Los Angeles Police Officers
Shantel Davis, May 26, 1989 – June 14, 2012 New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer	Sharmel T. Edwards, October 10, 1962 – April 21, 2012 Las Vegas, Nevada Shot: Las Vegas Police Officers
Tamon Robinson, December 21, 1985 – April 18, 2012 Brooklyn, New York City, New York Run over by police car: New York City Police Officers	Ervin Lee Jefferson, III, 1994 – March 24, 2012 Atlanta, Georgia Shot: Shepperson Security & Escort Services Security Guards
Kendrec McDade, May 5, 1992 – March 24, 2012 Pasadena, California Shot: Pasadena Police Officers	Rekia Boyd, November 5, 1989 – March 21, 2012 Chicago, Illinois Shot: Off-duty Chicago Police Detective
Shereese Francis, 1982 – March 15, 2012 Queens, New York City, New York Suffocated to death: New York City Police Officers	Jersey K. Green, June 17, 1974 – March 12, 2012 Aurora, Illinois Tasered/Electrocuted: Aurora Police Officers
Wendell James Allen, December 19, 1991 – March 7, 2012 New Orleans, Louisiana Shot: New Orleans Police Officer	Nehemiah Lazar Dillard, July 29, 1982 – March 5, 2012 Gainesville, Florida Tasered/Electrocuted: Alachua County Sheriff Deputies
Dante’ Lamar Price, July 18, 1986 – March 1, 2012 Dayton, Ohio Shot: Ranger Security Guards	Raymond Luther Allen Jr., 1978 – February 29, 2012 Galveston, Texas Tasered/Electrocuted: Galveston Police Officers
Manual Levi Loggins Jr., February 22, 1980 – February 7, 2012 San Clemente, Orange County, California Shot: Orange County Sheriff Deputy	Ramarley Graham, April 12, 1993 – February 2, 2012 The Bronx, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer
Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., April 12, 1943 – November 19, 2011 White Plains, New York Tasered/Electrocuted/Shot: White Plains Police Officers	Alonzo Ashley, June 10, 1982 – July 18, 2011 Denver, Colorado Tasered/Electrocuted: Denver Police Officers
Derek Williams, January 23, 1989 – July 6, 2011 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Blunt Force/Respiratory distress: Milwaukee Police Officers	Raheim Brown, Jr., March 4, 1990 – January 22, 2011 Oakland, California Shot: Oakland Unified School District Police
Reginald Doucet, June 3, 1985 – January 14, 2011 Los Angeles, California Shot: Los Angeles Police Officer	Derrick Jones, September 30, 1973 – November 8, 2010 Oakland, California Shot: Oakland Police Officers
Danroy “DJ” Henry Jr., October 29, 1990 – October 17, 2010 Pleasantville, New York Shot: Pleasantville Police Officer	Aiyana Mo’Nay Stanley-Jones, July 20, 2002 – May 16, 2010 Detroit, Michigan Shot: Detroit Police Officer
Steven Eugene Washington, September 20, 1982 – March 20, 2010 Los Angeles, California Shot: Los Angeles County Police	Aaron Campbell, September 7, 1984 – January 29, 2010 Portland, Oregon Shot: Portland Police Officer
Kiwane Carrington, July 14, 1994 – October 9, 2009 Champaign, Illinois Shot: Champaign Police Officer	Victor Steen, November 11, 1991 – October 3, 2009 Pensacola, Florida Tasered/Run over: Pensacola Police Officer
Shem Walker, March 18, 1960 – July 11, 2009 Brooklyn, New York Shot: New York City Undercover C-94 Police Officer	Oscar Grant III, February 27, 1986 – January 1, 2009 Oakland, California Shot: BART Police Officer
Tarika Wilson, October 30, 1981 – January 4, 2008 Lima, Ohio Shot: Lima Police Officer	DeAunta Terrel Farrow, September 7, 1994 – June 22, 2007 West Memphis, Arkansas Shot: West Memphis (AR) Police Officer
Sean Bell, May 23, 1983 – November 25, 2006 Queens, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officers	Kathryn Johnston, June 26, 1914 – November 21, 2006 Atlanta, Georgia Shot: Undercover Atlanta Police Officers
Ronald Curtis Madison, March 1, 1965 – September 4, 2005 Danziger Bridge, New Orleans, Louisiana Shot: New Orleans Police Officers	James B. Brissette Jr., November 6, 1987 – September 4, 2005 Danziger Bridge, New Orleans, Louisiana Shot: New Orleans Police Officers
Henry “Ace” Glover, October 2, 1973 – September 2, 2005 New Orleans, Louisiana Shot: New Orleans Police Officers	Timothy Stansbury, Jr., November 16, 1984 – January 24, 2004 Brooklyn, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer
Ousmane Zongo, 1960 – May 22, 2003 New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer	Alberta Spruill, 1946 – May 16, 2003 New York City, New York Stun grenade thrown into her apartment led to a heart attack: New York City Police Officer
Kendra Sarie James, December 24, 1981 – May 5, 2003 Portland, Oregon Shot: Portland Police Officer	Orlando Barlow, December 29, 1974 – February 28, 2003 Las Vegas, Nevada Shot: Las Vegas Police Officer
Nelson Martinez Mendez, 1977 – August 8, 2001 Bellevue, Washington Shot: Bellevue Police Officer	Timothy DeWayne Thomas Jr., July 25, 1981 – April 7, 2001 Cincinnati, Ohio Shot: Cincinnati Police Patrolman
Ronald Beasley, 1964 – June 12, 2000 Dellwood, Missouri Shot: Dellwood Police Officers	Earl Murray, 1964 – June 12, 2000 Dellwood, Missouri Shot: Dellwood Police Officers
Patrick Moses Dorismond, February 28, 1974 – March 16, 2000 New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer	Prince Carmen Jones Jr., March 30, 1975 – September 1, 2000 Fairfax County, Virginia Shot: Prince George’s County Police Officer
Malcolm Ferguson, October 31, 1976 – March 1, 2000 The Bronx, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer	LaTanya Haggerty, 1973 – June 4, 1999 Chicago, Illinois Shot: Chicago Police Officer
Margaret LaVerne Mitchell, 1945 – May 21, 1999 Los Angeles, California Shot: Los Angeles Police Officer	Amadou Diallo, September 2, 1975 – February 4, 1999 The Bronx, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officers
Tyisha Shenee Miller, March 9, 1979 – December 28, 1998 Riverside, California Shot: Riverside Police Officers	Dannette “Strawberry” Daniels, January 25, 1966 – June 7, 1997 Newark, New Jersey Shot: Newark Police Officer
Frankie Ann Perkins, 1960 – March 22, 1997 Chicago, Illinois Brutal Force/Strangled: Chicago Police Officers	Nicholas Heyward Jr., August 26, 1981 – September 27, 1994 Brooklyn, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer
Mary Mitchell, 1950 – November 3, 1991 The Bronx, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer	Yvonne Smallwood, July 26, 1959 – December 9, 1987 New York City, New York Severely beaten/Massive blood clot: New York City Police Officers
Eleanor Bumpers, August 22, 1918 – October 29, 1984 The Bronx, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer	Michael Jerome Stewart, May 9, 1958 – September 28, 1983 New York City, New York Brutal Force: New York City Transit Police
Eula Mae Love, August 8, 1939 – January 3, 1979 Los Angeles, California Shot: Los Angeles County Police Officers	Arthur Miller Jr., 1943 – June 14, 1978 Brooklyn, New York City, New York Chokehold/Strangled: New York City Police Officers
Randolph Evans, April 5, 1961 – November 25, 1976 Brooklyn, New York City, New York Shot in head: New York City Police Officer	Barry Gene Evans, August 29, 1958 – February 10, 1976 Los Angeles, California Shot: Los Angeles Police Officers
Rita Lloyd, November 2, 1956 – January 27, 1973 New York City, New York Shot: New York City Police Officer	Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, September 1, 1948 – May 15, 1970 Jackson, Mississippi Shot: Jackson State University Police Officers
James Earl Green, 1953 – May 15, 1970 Jackson, Mississippi Shot: Jackson State University Police Officers	Henry Dumas, July 20, 1934 – May 23, 1968 Harlem, New York City, New York Shot: New York City Transit Police Officer

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Remaining … In Our Corner