Reclaiming Our Way promoting the well-being of African American children & families

Getting Home Safely in an American Apartheid State – 10 Rules of Black Survival with Law Enforcement

In any just society, the following video, and certainly the 10 thoughtful rules developed by Brother David Miller, would suggest an absolute travesty and the reality of second (or worse) class citizenship.

No people should have to go through any changes in order to survive an encounter with the police, or some rogue vigilante citizen. No group of people in a society should have to abide by an additional set of rules - that other groups of citizens don't also have to follow - in order to go home from an encounter with law enforcement. And there is plenty of video footage out there of white people who have pointed - even fired - their guns at law enforcement, sometimes even killing law enforcement officers, and being taken into custody 'without incident.' Too many Black folks, minding their own business no less, don't quite get the benefit of the doubt.

The reality is that Black people do live a sort of second class citizenship in terms of our relationship with law enforcement. Always have since before the 'founding' days of this nation. So the rules Brother Miller developed are sensible and even helpful, even if they remind us of a horrible way of living for Black people in this country.

And thus, why the protests on the streets of this country are not likely to die down any time soon.

#BlackLivesMatter

After Michael Brown's death, an important infographic, "10 Rules Of Survival If Stopped By The Police” was developed by David Miller, founder of "The Dare To Be King Project." In partnership with CTS, WFYI, and Trinity United Church of Christ (on the south side of Chicago), SALT has taken Miller's rules and created a short film to bring this critical information to an even wider audience and help save even more lives.

Get Home Safely: 10 Rules of Survival from SALT Project on Vimeo.