There was a time when I worried about the fate of my children; then I wrung my hands about the dangers my grandchildren faced. These days, I am concerned about my great-grandchildren. While my family has been blessed with longevity, I am sure to be personally relieved about the outcomes of my great-great grandchildren. But the condition of my people is more than a selfish interest in my family — it’s about all our families, and what happens to one, historically, has resonated throughout our community, with sometimes terrible consequences abroad. I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, 86 years ago, but I was taken from that cauldron of intense racism during the second major migration from the South. Reading about the police shooting death of Jabari Peoples, a promising teenager, brought back memories and a fresh round of anxiety about our young people.
What is most disturbing about this tragedy is Gov. Kay Ivey’s support of a state agency’s refusal to release body camera footage of the shooting, charging that the case must first be thoroughly investigated. She said she was confident “that facts will prevail” in the June 23 shooting. And I am reminded of her recent banning of DEI offices.
Some of those facts should be highly visible and show that Jabari, an aspiring police detective, was shot in the back, sitting in his car with his girlfriend. They were approached after an officer claimed to have smelled marijuana. The officer, whose identity remains undisclosed, said that Jabari reached for a gun, which if true, should be revealed in the body camera — if that evidence is not tampered with or distorted.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, representing the family, said “We’re at a disadvantage because they have the video.” Jabari’s parents, Vivian Sterling and William Peoples, were heartbroken and deeply distressed by the loss of their child.
No, he was not a relative, but he was a member of my extended family that stretches back across the ages and hopefully into the future, though with each passing day we have less and less of a guarantee.
For more than a generation, as a journalist, I have been following these atrocities, and each one brings a deeper sorrow, an unrelieved sense of hopelessness. Soon, I will be off to glory, and I hope I leave behind more than my sorrow. Justice for Jabari and our people!