Emancipation Arts held a film showing at the Phoenix Center for the Arts Thursday for documentary ‘Rest in Power’, a series about the death of Trayvon Martin and its affect on national opinions regarding race and gun violence.
Throughout the film series, Emancipation Arts held panel discussions moderated by Clottee Hammons, creative director for Emancipation Arts, and featured local NAACP leader Roy Tatum and Arizona Coalition For Change activist Niamey Thomas.
The film focused on Martin’s death as well as other incidents of victims dying by police brutality such as Eric Garner and Tamir Rice.
During the film, the panel primarily discussed three key issues of Stand Your Ground laws, racial profiling and the effect of police shootings on the mental health of African Americans.
“You can be stopped while walking,” Hammon said. “(People) have this idea where you belong. There’s an issue if you’re driving a car. As an officer, its (their) word against yours.”
Hammon also discussed the issue of racial profiling on Phoenix’s light rail system.
“There are so many ways to be detained for being black or brown,” Hammon said. “People are being profiled, and when you are profiled, it creates tension.”
Tatum spoke on the influence of cell phones and their power to document police brutality.
“If you have a cell phone, the ability to broadcast racism and profiling is more prevalent in the past two to three years than in the past four hundred years,” Tatum said.
The panel deliberated on the racial and gender bias surrounding the Stand Your Ground law, which many believe protected George Zimmerman, the man who was accused of shooting and killing Martin in the iconic court case.
“We blame women (in domestic violence cases),” Thomas said. “The victim becomes the problem, whereas you shouldn’t have to stand your ground (at all)”
Hammon introduced the angle of how African Americans typically are excluded from the privileges of the Stand Your Ground law by law enforcement.
“In the event that we have to defend ourselves and call the police, we know what happens when black people have a gun,” Hammon said.
The panel critiqued the National Rifle Association, a group often looked at in issues surrounding gun rights.
“The NRA does not defend them,” Thomas said. “They don’t defend black people.”
The event concluded with an open discussion with the audience about ways in which the people in the room could build solidarity with one another. One man in the audience who is the vice principal of a local school discussed how kids in inner-city schools are told untrue facts and figures about them or are sometimes kept from them completely.
He believes that the injustices happening in these schools and racial issues should be discussed with the students affected by them.
Another man commented on issues with Native American rights, saying Native people can be united with African Americans on the issue of having part of their identity and culture stolen from them.
The panel discussed the importance of unity among people, a unity of purpose to empower African Americans, and of protecting one another and look out for one another when one group is faced with injustice.
Hammon concluded with a note on the work of Emancipation Arts to empower black youth, and encouraged everyone in the community to tell their friends and children about these solidarity-creating events.
For questions, contact the reporter at tmlane3@asu.edu.
