A rose “[proved] nature’s law is wrong; it learned to walk without having feet. Funny, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long Live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else even cared.” (Shakur, 1999, pg. 3). Yet you may find that people judge the circumstances the rose grew in and not the miracle of its growth. Many African Americans find themselves betrayed by societal structures meant to help them and, as a result, must learn to grow in places where they are not supported. Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Sandra Bland were unable to flourish in America as support systems actively worked against them. Police treat African Americans as a threat rather than protect them, and the justice system turns its back on them rather than fight for their rights. Unlike Kalief Browder, they were unable to speak their story and advocate for justice before their deaths. Although Browder gave a voice to those discriminated against and raised awareness for systemic racism, he too was unable to grow. To analyze how people like Browder are failed, we must assess the media and societal systems. In doing so, we must ask ourselves difficult questions. Such as, has the media escalated harm caused by systemic racism? Did the media force Kalief to relieve trauma with no relief in sight? Is it morally okay to turn Browder into a symbol of the trauma inflicted on black youth despite this negatively impacting his mental health? And how can we reform social institutions, such as the police and schools, to ensure equality for all citizens? All in all, Browder was never able to flourish due to the trauma, corruption, and discrimination he faced, which led to his short life. After all, how can a rose grow from concrete if it keeps getting stepped on?
In 2010, Kalief Browder, a sixteen-year-old black boy, was walking home when he was stopped by police who accused him of stealing a man’s backpack. This accusation led to Browder being detained at Rikers’ for three years without a trial. During this time, Browder had to adapt from an innocent teen to a hardened fighter to withstand the mental and physical trauma inflicted by both correctional officers and fellow detainees. The conditions of Rikers’ were inhumane, with poor ventilation and heating during extreme weather and with officers actively antagonizing detainees. In addition, Browder had to seek out solitary confinement, despite it inflicting psychological harm, to escape Rikers’ violence (Gonnerman, 2014). Despite all of the trauma he faced, Browder refused to exchange a guilty plea for freedom; he maintained his innocence and denied admitting to a crime he did not commit. Upon his release from Rikers’, Browder sought to speak his truth and raise awareness for the corrupt justice system. He did so to prevent what happened to him from happening to others like him, as sadly, it is a regular occurrence for African Americans. Due to Browder’s activism, he became the subject of a profile in The New Yorker by Jennifer Gonnerman. The profile soon made national news and turned Browder into a symbol for those falsely charged and jailed. Browder then found himself thrust into the public eye due to his profile — Kalief began to speak on talk shows such as The View and Huffington Post Live to discuss his experience and the importance of prison reform (Lauricella, 2020).
When writing Browder’s profile Jennifer Gonnerman showed a tremendous amount of care. She created a safe and supportive environment where Browder felt comfortable disclosing painful details about his time at Rikers’. Gonnerman supported Browder by enabling him to speak freely which made his story personal and not a general representation of the struggles black youth face in America. Also, Gonnerman amplified his voice rather than overshadowing it. But when I watched Browder’s television appearances, I noticed a change in tone and care. TV interviewers falsely represented Browder, such as altering his appearance and dressing him up to make him appear more presentable. These appearances failed to address Browder’s world and his financial reality, such as misrepresenting how he could afford an education that was paid for without appearance fees (Pech & Leibel, 2006).
The relationships he built with his celebrity supporters, such as rapper Jay-Z, may have influenced others to attack him. For example, Browder was assaulted and robbed in his neighbourhood by those who had seen his television appearances and assumed he was wealthy due to his newfound notoriety. Although this media exposure gave Browder a platform to advocate for prison and police reform, the media’s invasive questioning negatively impacted Browder. It was suggested that Browder recounting his story forced him to repeatedly re-live the trauma of his experience at Rikers’ (Gonnerman, 2015). While many used Browder and his story as a symbol for the unjust treatment black individuals receive in American society, many failed to acknowledge the pain Browder was still experiencing. They were unable to consider the impact their attention would have on his mental health and the side effects of this exposure within his family.
Following his release from Rikers, Browder began to question authority and the justice system due to his unjust treatment after being falsely accused of a minor offence. Browder did not trust those who were supposed to serve and protect him, such as the police, as they had failed him (Phillip, 2015). Eventually, Browder stopped attending Bronx Community College and was admitted to a psychiatric unit at Harlem Hospital (Gonnerman, 2015). Browder later attributed the sudden decline in his mental health to his experience at Rikers’ — since he never struggled with mental health issues before his sentencing (Gonnerman, 2014). During Browder’s stay at Harlem Hospital, Gonnerman met with him and noted an extreme change in behaviour, which included paranoia and delusions. Such as throwing out a new television because he feared it was “watching him” (Gonnerman, 2015). Unfortunately, two months after being discharged from the hospital, his mental health continued to decline, and he died by suicide.
After Browder’s death, his mother, Venida Browder, was left to pick up her family’s pieces following their trauma. Venida used her grief to highlight African American youth’s experiences of being victims of profiling, discrimination, false imprisonment, and more. Following Browder’s death, rapper Jay Z worked with Venida to advocate for prison and criminal justice reform. Venida also sponsored a Kalief Browder memorial fund to benefit full-time students at Kalief Browder’s alum mater — Bronx community college (Browder, 2019). The pain of her son’s death ignited a fire in Venida Browder that fueled her fight to honour her son’s legacy, but doing so became detrimental to her health. Venida, like many black mothers, found that coming to terms with a child’s death and preserving their legacy meant risking personal well-being (Browder, 2019). Many suggested that Venida exhausted herself in her fight for justice which contributed to her death at the age of sixty-three from premature heart failure (Browder, 2019). The exhaustion of activism deteriorating a grieving mother’s health is not unique; unfortunately, many black mothers and women suffer from losing a loved one. For example, high blood pressure has become common among Black African Americans between 34–64; this is believed to spawn from frustrations concerning the law and how it is difficult to grieve within a system that betrays trust. With family members forced into carrying their deceased legacy — contemplation occurs where one thinks about the various factors that led to that moment.
Unfortunately, systemic racism is prevalent throughout many aspects of African Americans’ lives. In American institutions, many practices prey on African Americans and people of colour, such as the “school to prison pipeline”. The “school to prison pipeline” is a process that was created in response to the large trend in school shootings. This policy allowed schools to employ law enforcement to enforce rules and disciplinary policies (Lisa-Cole, 2020). While this practice was developed in an attempt to protect students, it has resulted in a zero-tolerance policy in which students faced legal punishment for minor infractions (Lisa-Cole, 2020). This system relies strongly on police to intervene with “difficult” students rather than employing counsellors to reduce negative behaviour or social issues amongst the students (Lisa-Colse, 2020). Rather than address systemic problems within the student body with compassion school police escalate these issues (Browder, 2019). This pipeline’s predatory practices prevent the growth of African Americans and children of colour by routinely profiling them and treating small misdemeanours as if they were severe crimes (Foster & Terenzi, 2017). For example, with the implementation of these practices, students of colour are often severely punished for small infractions, with 91.7 percent of African American and Latinx students receiving criminal summons within the school (Foster & Terenzi, 2017). These learning facilities instill fear in many students, which hinders their ability to succeed. Also, using school police massively misappropriates funds that could be better directed towards counsellors or mental health services and instead only fuels a surveillance and police state mentality. (Foster & Terenzi, 2017).
To address the overrepresentation of people of colour in prison, this policy must be removed from schools. Moreover, despite the numerous appearances Kalief made recounting his experiences at Rikers’ — the facility remained open. Not until Kalief took his own life was closure taken seriously and steps were made towards reformation. Still, Browder was able to force others to look at various forms of American judicial systems that may not have been harmful to them but impacted other communities. This allowed others to seriously examine that the law has not been just in a long time. But even with Rikers’ closing and removing cash in exchange for bail, other predatory and harmful systems continue to exist. For instance, correctional officers at Rikers’ routinely break the rules by using inmates as entertainment by instigating violence and trafficking contraband items to sell to inmates. Firing correctional officers may not work, but unless the management and culture among prison staff systemically reforms into a new one, abuse will continue in correctional facilities across America. While closing Rikers’ is an achievement for prison reform, many doubt it will amount to systemic change. Systemic racism builds itself into every aspect of society — from healthcare, politics, education, and more — creating a hostile environment from inception (Browder, 2019). If the reasons people will go into jail do not get addressed, this will restructure the problem instead of preventing it (The Guardian, 2019).
Kalief Browder spent his life trying to grow within institutions that continually oppressed him. It has been suggested that it takes a miracle for beautiful minds such a Kalief Browder to grow in these conditions, much like a rose growing within concrete cracks. Success is difficult to achieve when one judges others based on the environment that they were born into. Eventually, if one hears a lie often enough, they will begin to believe it. When society insists on judging success based on one’s surroundings, they fail to understand how those circumstances create limitations. Like Tupac Shakur said many years ago, “Long live the rose that grew from concrete, when no one else even cared.” If only society cared for Kalief as much as they cared for others; he was one of the many roses growing within the cracks of concrete. Suppose we continue to judge these individuals based on their struggles and neglect to fix the societal frameworks that continue to happen. Then there will be no relief in sight; grief becomes hard to manage as one’s pain gets recycled for another’s within a never-ending news cycle.
References
Browder, D. (2019, April 23). My mom died trying to preserve the legacy of her son. Keeping kids out of solitary will preserve hers. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2019/04/23/kalief-browder-suicide-solitary-confinement-venida-browder-policing-the-usa/3540366002/
Gonnerman, J. (2014, September 29). Before the Law. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/before-the-law
Gonnerman, J. (2015, June 07). Kalief Browder, 1993–2015. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-browder-1993-2015
Lauricella, S. (2020, August 17). Picturing Justice for Kalief Browder: Documentary Film and the Ethics of Media Advocacy. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://mediaethicsinitiativeorg.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/88-browder-documentery-case-study.pdf
Lisa Cole, P. N. (2020, October 21). What You Need to Know About the School to Prison Pipeline. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.thoughtco.com/school-to-prison-pipeline-4136170
New York votes to close notorious Rikers Island jail complex. (2019, October 18). Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/17/rikers-island-jail-new-york-closure
Pech, G., & Leibel, R. (2006). Writing in Solidarity: Steps Toward an Ethic of Care for Journalism. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 21(2), 141–155. doi:10.1207/s15327728jmme2102&3_4
Phillip, A. (2015, June 08). Kalief Browder’s suicide and the high cost of violence and delay at Rikers. Retrieved November 10, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/08/kalief-browders-suicide-and-the-high-cost-of-violence-and-delay-at-rikers/
Shakur, T. (1999). The Rose that grew From Concrete. New York, New York: MTV Books/Gallery Books.
