Black Is Not A Weapon

by

Abby Zimet, staff writer

In the wake of newly release private autopsy results showing Keith Scott was killed by four shots, the first in the back, by Charlotte police - none of whom have been charged - comes a harrowing PSA calling out the "weaponization" of blackness in America. The creation ofdirecting duo Gerard Bush/ Christopher Renz and Harry Belafonte's social justice non-profitSankofa, the four-minute film shows famous African-American actors and activists standing in frisk position, lit by a police spotlight, against the wall. Seeking to harness the power of celebrity for good, their goal is to "shift narratives and not only show life as it is, but as it could be.”

Van Jones, Sophia Dawson, Danny Glover, Michael Jordan of Fruitvale Station, Michael Williams of The Wire and others stare into the camera as we hear real police dispatch audio, much of it chilling. First and worst is George Zimmerman, moments before murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, declare him "a real suspicious guy...It looks like he's up to no good." Worried that Americans have grown de-sensitized by "the murder and victimization of black and brown bodies," so many videos "flashing before our very eyes, hour after hour," Belafonte hopes the images of familiar faces will help us "really see the problem...take a look, listen and feel within your heart to take action."

 

 

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2016/10/13/black-not-weapon