A Podcast Episode - Vibe Check

Poverty, By America

Started the day thinking about a road trip from earlier this year. I was driving to the dispensary in Michigan from Ohio and one of my tags had recently been stolen. Why only one? I have questions…

I filed a report and was told to carry the paperwork with me until I was able to replace both tags. That made sense because if they ran my tag, it would come back as stolen. Fair enough. On the way back from Michigan, two cop cars pulled me over and four cops got out. I wasn’t even thinking about my tags because I had my papers. My concern was the fresh bag of pre-rolls in the passenger seat that I had neglected to put in the trunk in case I was stopped after I crossed the Ohio border. They took an obscene amount of time coming to my window which heightened my fear even further.

When one finally acknowledged me, the first words out of his mouth were “you’re lucky I didn’t shoot you on sight” and then he laughed. I don’t talk back to cops. I shut the hell up and focus on staying alive the way my Black Mama taught me. But this time, I was angry.

“Shoot me? SHOOT ME! Over a tag?!”

Without missing a beat he said “yeah, a less experienced cop would have shot you on sight.” And yes, yes they were.

This isn’t even what I intended to post about. I just randomly thought about this encounter and it pissed me off all over again. Often when I share my racist encounters with folks that have a different lived experience than mine, they get mad on my behalf and want to protect me. Thank you for giving a damn. With that said, I’m at a place in life where I don’t need folks with privilege and power to protect me. Instead, I want those folks to use their outrage and create a society that I don’t need to be protected from. Get mad. Burn shit down. Talk to your racist ass families.

Anyway, what I actually came to share is a podcast episode that I wish everyone would listen to on repeat. It’s a book club (1hr) hosted by Vibe Check on the book ‘Poverty, by America’ by Matthew Desmond.

You can check it out here.

Would love to hear your own takeaways in the comments.

Liberation to the oppressed, ourselves included.

#PovertySucks