The recent police-related deaths of 43-year-old Allen Kephart in Lake Arrowhead, California and 37-year-old Kelly Thomas in Fullerton, California have sent shockwaves through the their respective communities.

Two Black men who all but gift wrapped someone the police had been looking for couldn’t possibly be concerned about public safety, like, two White men in the same position. Needless to say that tells us there are many moons to go in inner city/police relations. Were it not so tragic it would be funny because receptions like these provoke a community gag order when officers come around asking if onlookers have any information about a crime under investigation. When I was a kid, the welcoming committee in blue may have tried to arrest us for simply entering a precinct under color of Blackness. Is our experience progress- well, it’s something.