Today. Tomorrow. & Forever.
This was a conversation that I had with Kennah and Rashad. We talked about the personal hurdles we faced during this protest and what it meant to us. Protecting the future was a theme that resonated with us all in this conversation. This theme was big in Rashad’s childhood, and big in Kennah’s family life. I enjoyed listening to them open up about feelings of numbness, fear, anxiety and on the other hand; feelings of empowerment. Listen to them below.
Kennah And Rashad Transcript
Tyree: My name is Tyree. I just really wanted to know, besides the obvious, what is the purpose that brings you guys out here today?
Kennah: Besides Black Lives Matter movement?
T: right.
K: Um police brutality entirely, it needs to be put to an end. Besides George Floyd, there’s just this year so many black people who have died at the hands of the police. And I mean honestly, not just black people even though that’s what we’re focusing on. The police are just too authoritative, they have too much power, they need some defunding.
Rashad: For me, it gets to a point in your life where when it comes time to fight for change, you’re either going to fight for change or sit by and let change happen to you. You can either stand idly by and let the world shape you or you can help try and shape the world and try to change it for the better. My dad grew up in the sixties. He saw Martin Luther King, Malcom X live through ass of that. So, just me and my brothers growing up, this was something that more or less was expected of us to come out here and fight for what we believe in. To actually try to make a change in the world. Try to see something we can actually do if we have the opportunity to fight back I’m going to fight back.
T: I really love that you guys are out here to promote change. I know that you said that this has directly impacted you, your family and whatnot. I’m just wondering who do you guys fight for in this?
K: Besides just the black community as a whole for peace – just to be a black woman and black man to walk down the street peacefully without being bothered by anyone police or not. My brother is sixteen, he’s six foot two – So he looks like a grown man. He’s really tall, has a really deep voice, but he’s only sixteen. So when I think of him just being in situations, being from up north you know, to be assumed that if the police wanted to assume that he was doing something, or just assume that by how they act… it – that plays through my head all the time. All day every day.
T: Me too. I have a younger brother and that’s who I worry about the most. He’s the same – eighteen I think. I’m sorry, I was listening to you and forgot my next question.
K: That’s okay!
T: I was going to ask you guys, like how has this impacted your personal life? Are you losing sleep over it, have you gotten anxiety from it, do you feel empowered from it? How has this impacted you as a person on a deeper level?
R: For me, if we’re talking specifically about the George Floyd murder and everything that’s been leading up after that. It gets to a point where you start to get numb to all the things that happen. Numbness is the first sign of losing any care whatsoever. Once you start feeling numb, once you say “I can’t do anything about it. I can’t move. I can’t do whatever.” Doing these things to keep yourself down, you’re not going to be able to fight for it. I’m trying to keep myself from that place of numbness. I know how much this actually affects me. Every time I see some of these people murdered, I see myself. I see my brothers. I see my dad, my cousins. I see my friends. I’m trying to do everything in my power to make sure this doesn’t happen to the people that I love. The only way I can do that is to make sure that I’m out here. To make sure that I’m actually fighting for what I believe in. I try not to let it affect me, but it does. I can’t not live in this world without it [inaudible]. I know every time I leave the house I’m in danger of losing my life just because of the color of my skin. And that’s a real fear that most people that look like me all share.
T: That really touched me, because for me I did get numb to this experience and I was like “I don’t want to hear about this no more” this is draining me. And it just felt like I wasn’t doing anything. Has it impacted you in the same way?
K: Yeah, mhmm. For me, the situation has kind of forced me to turn that anxiety that I feel into you know wanting to do something. Wanting to make a change. It’s like, just like – It’s empowering because change is now. Even if we don’t see the results of it in twenty years, we know it’s now. And it’s coming, and that kind of helps the mental side of It because now I’m out here putting this energy, this anger, and this passion to use in the protest. So it actually is kind of calming me down in a little bit, if that makes any sense.
T: Yes! That makes perfect sense! Which leads me to ask my last question which is how do you feel about being a part of history? Doesn’t it feel kind of incredible?
K: It’s like, overwhelming you know? Sometimes just marching – for me especially seeing just how many white people are in this. It’s like, wow this is something that will be remembered. Something that I can tell my kids and my grandkids. It’s so empowering.
R: For me, yeah everybody likes the fact that they’re a part of history and they’re fighting for change. But for me it goes a little deeper than that. I’m fighting for what the future holds. I’m creating the future. I’m either out here doing everything in my power to make sure that my kids and my grandkids are taken care of and making sure that they don’t have to worry about the same things that I’m worried about. Or I’m gonna sit my ass down wait for someone else to make this their problem, wait generations and generations to let this pile up some more. The future is gonna come regardless, you can either impact it or just let it pass you by.
T: Thank you guys so much! That was so powerful!
