More than headlines: Members of Black community say they feel threatened every day
BOSTON - It can be hard to ignore the headlines, especially when a Black teenage boy can't even ring the wrong doorbell safely. These stories can have a large impact on the psyche and mental health of people in the Black community.
Sixteen-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot and wounded last week in Kansas City. He rang the wrong doorbell while looking to pick up his younger siblings. The homeowner fired through a glass door, striking him twice.
"It's the mental gymnastics we have to go through day-to-day to leave the house," explained Dr. Gayl Crump-Swaby, a mental health professional with New Generation Consultants and Associates. "It can spark the feeling, or thoughts, or beliefs that we are still not safe. That I am not safe, or my community is not safe, no matter what I'm doing."
Dr. Crump-Swaby says these stories can have an impact on Black youth, saying they can become desensitized to it.
"Why should I even try any harder when there are people who don't think well of me? We are seen from the perspective of the color of our skin and not what we bring or the value, of what we have to give back to society," said Dr. Crump-Swaby. "These incidents are not just impactful to Black communities, but to white communities as well. If we are impacted by it, if we are experiencing that way, then white communities are experiencing the impact as well."
Just this week, the Ohio attorney general said there will be no charges against Akron police officers who shot and killed 25-year-old Jayland Walker. He was being pursued for a broken taillight. Police say he fired a shot from his car during the pursuit. He later ran from the vehicle. As police chased him, he was fired upon and was struck more than 40 times.
"Every single time this happens, I am immediately transported back to the room," remembered Amber Henry.
Henry's brother Danroy "DJ" Henry was shot by police in Pleasantville, New York, in 2010. The 20-year-old was a Pace University football player and had been out with his friends. A bar fight ensued. Henry wasn't involved but was asked to move his car from a fire lane. He complied, but that's when police claim he sped toward an officer, forcing him to jump onto the hood and shoot at him. His friends deny he was driving fast at all. The Department of Justice determined there was not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges in the case. The Henry family reached a $6 million settlement with the officer and Pleasantville in 2016.
"To think back to what he was thinking in that moment, when they asked him to move his car, and he complied, and then to be faced with this seconds later. I think this all the time," said Amber. "If he just took a moment to ask Danny to roll down the window and ask his name? It's insane that we lost the connection and the communication. This is what we are dealing with."
She grapples with his death all of the time. She posted to her Instagram this week, saying stories like Ralph Yarl take her back to the exact day her brother died.
"I can remember what I was wearing, what the hospital smells like. My mom had come out of the hospital doors when I had gotten there and said 'I want to take you to say goodbye to your brother. He looks different,'" remembered Amber.
She was 15 years old when DJ was killed and is 28 today. Amber is going through different forms of therapy and often wonders about her family's safety.
"My brother Kyle leaves the house. What if he doesn't come home?" questions Amber. "It doesn't just stop when your loved one passes away. It doesn't stop when the cameras stop rolling. It's something we have to carry for the rest of our lives. It's a scary, scary place to live in where you feel like you can't go to the store. You can't get in your car. You can't park your car in a fire lane. You can't walk in the street with a hoodie on or knock on a door. These are things that are so day-to-day for so many people."
