Around midnight on October 13, 2021, actor and filmmaker Damien Smith drove home to find an intruder robbing his house. But when he called 911 for help, cops brutally detained him instead.
Smith had been working on a documentary on police brutality. But after the agony of that night, he stalled production. Trauma stopped him in his tracks, and this is a moment for us to reflect.
From projects to lawsuits, how many of our community members are pushed to stop their work to combat anti-Blackness because of trauma?
Furthermore, how can we support each other through collective trauma? How can we show up for victims who expose the truth about systemic harm?
And how can we build resources in our communities to access police alternatives that already exist and create new ones to prevent future trauma?
We resist anti-Black institutions because we’re fighting for a liberated future. In that future, we’re all safe. And not just physically safe, but psychologically and emotionally, too.
That means our needs are met, we feel free to show up as our authentic selves, and we can exist without constant fear of anti-Black carcerality and punishment. And though we aren’t in that liberated future yet, we can practice this now.
Resistance is necessary, but we’re also vulnerable to trauma no matter who we are. When anti-Blackness takes its toll on us, how can we keep ourselves and each other safe?