PHILADELPHIA — Javon Grant has come up with a plan for what to do should he cross paths with a police officer: Get as far away as possible.
“People are getting shot every day,” says Javon, 14. “I’ll walk on the other side of the street. I will run. I don’t know what they’re gonna do.”
The impact of the constant drumbeat of police shootings of black men and boys — many of them unarmed and killed at the hands of white officers — has left many black youngsters wondering how they can keep from becoming the next social media hashtag.
Javon and his peers are coming of age in the era of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown. They do not know if they will be next.
At the start of what would be a week of violence ending with two black men shot dead by police on video and five Dallas police officers killed by a sniper, about a group of black boys met with their mentors in Philadelphia in an intervention and diversion program where they learn critical thinking, accountability, goal— setting and other skills. Together, they watched a video of Alton Sterling, who was shot several times July 5 while being held down by Baton Rouge police officers in front of a convenience store where he was selling CDs.
Slouched in his chair in jeans, a black T-shirt and a pair of Michael Jordan Nike tennis shoes, Javon shook his head and sat quietly, staring ahead for several moments before speaking.
“He was just trying to hustle,” Javon said. “He was probably selling CDs because he can’t get no job. That’s messed up.”
And it reinforced his plan to distance himself from law enforcement as a way to stay alive.
Across the room, Nahkai Wright nodded. “I gotta make sure I don’t die.”
