Rhetoric Race and Religion
I attended yet another prayer vigil for an unarmed African American shot and killed by a police officer. No, I was not in Ferguson, Baltimore, New York, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Charleston or in the state of Florida. I was here in Memphis, Tennessee. On Friday night, July 17, 2015, 26-year-old Memphis Police Officer Connor Schilling shot and killed 19– year old Darrius Stewart in front of one of our largest churches.
According to police reports, officer Schilling pulled over a car for a headlight violation. He gave the driver of the car a citation and released the driver, but Stewart, according to police reports, had several outstanding warrants and placed uncuffed, in the back of the squad car. After checking with communications and confirming the outstanding warrants, Schilling went to open the door to handcuff Stewart. Stewart reportedly “kicked the door and attacked the officer.” Stewart then got hold of Schilling’s handcuffs and started hitting the officer. That is when the officer got a hold of his own gun and shot Stewart. Stewart died later at the hospital.
However, in talking with Stewart’s family, they paint a different picture. The warrants, they suggest, belonged to someone else. Stewart’s mother said that police detained Darrius months ago for the “same reason,” but upon further investigation, police discovered that this Darrius Stewart was not the one with the outstanding warrants. This Darrius Stewart only wanted to attend the University of Memphis and become a doctor.
Our District Attorney, Amy Weirich, has now turned the case over to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Citing the sensitive nature of the case—white cop killing unarmed black man, she and police director Tony Armstrong believed that handing the case to the TBI was the right thing to do to assure a fair and unbiased investigation. However, the problem with this is that all TBI investigations are sealed and unless there is an indictment, we may never know what happened.
So, we came out to remember the life of yet another black person. Another black person unarmed; another black person killed by police; another black person whose future was tragically cut short because a police officer apparently “feared for his life;” another black person who will not come home, not because “he was black,” but because officer Schilling had preconceived notions in his mind about black people and it framed his decision making that night.
We came out to remember Darrius Stewart. We had our candles; we made our speeches; we said our chants; we raised our fists; we exchanged social media information; we made our announcements; we shouted down counter protest from some group called the Black Israelites (I will say more about them in an upcoming post); we showed mad love for the family of Darrius Stewart; we laughed, cried, marched and prayed; pretty much did the thing we typically do in these situations. Maybe it’s because we have so much practice now, sadly, we know what to do and say.
But something else happened out there that night. Through the pain and sorrow; through the heartbreak and turmoil of yet another black youth dead at the hands of state sponsored terrorism, there was a spirit of commitment. Led by family members who vowed not to let this story die and promised to keep asking questions, the crowd of about 200 stood totally in solidarity with them. We stood in unison as the family asked for our prayers and support, but also asked us to not back down and not to quit. They asked us to keep this alive until justice for Darrius is a reality.
As I left the place, I felt a movement taking place. A movement joining up with others who have been on the ground fighting for justice. A movement with high levels of social media activity; a movement where young people are finding their place in social justice activism; a movement that’s both new and old at the same time; a movement in which people travel to rally in places like Ferguson and Baltimore, but this time, a movement right here in Memphis. Memphis now has a hashtag. The question that everyone is asking is what are we going to do?
#DarriusStewart #JusticeforDarrius
Andre E. Johnson is the founder and managing editor of R3
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