Young Black Professional Guide

The last few days have thrust two stories of Black men into the lime light. Both of their paths have trails reaching back, and both began with bad decisions. One has an ending that causes feelings of despair and anger, while the other sheds light to possibility and hope.

If you haven’t heard the story, Sean Bell was a young Black man who on November 25, 2006 at 4am, the day before his wedding, was killed by undercover police officers as he stepped out of a strip club under surveillance. The police officers shot at Bell and his friends 50 times, one officer even emptying his clip and reloading. Sean Bell had a record. He was also illegally intoxicated at the time, as he was celebrating his bachelor party. The trial of the police officers involved just finished, and all were found not guilty.

Marcus Dixon is also a Black man. He was a star athlete and consummate scholar in high school. As a senior living in Georgia, he had consensual sex with a White freshman girl. He was later convicted of rape and aggravated child molestation and sentenced to 10 years. This was the third reported incident with him while in high school. His full-ride to Vanderbilt was revoked. After much press and pro-bono help from a high power attorney, the State Supreme Court overturned his conviction after he had served 15 months. He graduated from Hampton University on with a football scholarship without incident. He entered the NFL draft hoping his past would not derail his future. After hard work, devout prayer, and support from his family (his parents are White), Marcus signed a three-year, $1.1 million dollar contract by the Dallas Cowboys.

Both of these stories give me serious pause. I can figuratively see the paths these two young men came to as I remember similar circumstances in my life. Any guy can tell you what happens at 4am at a strip club, just like any cat can talk about how the young girls like to push up on the older guys. Every single time that has happened in my life, the ominous words of my father glare in my head like a ‘No Vacancy’ sign: Keep your head when all about you are losing theirs. I suppose I’m very blessed in that way. I’ve had a person in my life that has been there and warned me of the decisions ahead.

However, the first question that popped up in my head when I read these stories was ‘What the f*!% were they thinking?!?‘

What good could possibly come from being out at an EFFING STRIP CLUB at 4am…before you get married? I mean, come on dude. You’re about to spend the rest of your life with someone (not to mentioned your children), but you just had to get that last little piece of booty in. For some reason, that just seemed like a good decision. And Marcus…dude. You admitted that your community looked down, scratch that, goes ape shit with the idea of a Black man having sex with a White girl, but the booty just could not be turned down? For some reason, that just seemed like a good decision.

Or maybe, they just ignored the voice saying ‘This is probably not the best idea’.

I then step down from my comfortable, suburban, and unbroken soap box and think about these human beings. No matter what ills someone has done, no matter how much we condemn another person’s life, the word of God is love. I cannot, in good conscience, be cynical or critical of the events that transpired with these men and take the Fox News approach of ‘its not our fault this happened to them’. The internet has caused us to see each other as headlines and YouTube videos. Our human connection is stifled by our racial and economic differences, ultimately distancing us from the horror of 50 bullets tearing apart human flesh or false imprisonment from teenage stupidity.

How many of us did dumb shit as teenagers? How many of us have been drunk at a club past 4am in the city? How many of us were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and thanked God we made it home safely?

I know I have.

Everyone deserves our love and sympathy. Jesus taught us that the hardest thing to do is to do what we already know, not what we think we need to know. We know that we should love each other. We know that we should connect with each other. We know that we should pray for each other. After I followed who the Bears drafted the first three rounds, I anxiously watched to see if a team would pick up Marcus. I wanted so bad for him to have a second chance, especially as a Black man in America.

I have to disagree with Cobb on this one. When cops feel they need to spray into a car to justify their fear, its no different than an over-zealous prosecutor who is also afraid. The two parties didn’t see people. They didn’t have a connection. They didn’t think twice about their actions and they had the power to execute their dominance.

It’s just not right.

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