Looking back, I’ve gone through a lot of hardships. I can remember my first interaction with the cops I was about ten at the time, me, my cousin and some friends were playing with cap guns thinking nothing of it. After 20 minutes in, we started seeing cruisers pop up, but we continued playing till we heard a loud yell and seen 4 cops running towards us with guns telling us to get on the ground. We were only ten, so we didn’t know how to react. Next thing you know were getting hand cuffed and put in a cruiser without them even asking us for our names or age. Thankfully my dad must’ve noticed something was up and came to check on us. If not, we would’ve gone to the station with no one knowing where we were. It was at that moment I knew that the colour of my skin determined how others see me, even as a young child. I feel like that impacted who I am today, even though that wouldn’t be the last time I would have a negative interaction with the cops. That moment had a big impact on how I started to look at life.
Isreal