WGN9 | “Killing of Floyd Spotlights Fraught Relationship Between Police and Black Community”

In the fraught relationship between police and the Black community there is an agreement that better relations will take time and tolerance.

18-year-old Marques Watts is a junior at Mather High School and a youth leader in VOYCE, a youth organizing alliance focused on education and racial justice.  He joined five months ago after the shooting death of his friend and fellow VOYCE leader Caleb Reed.

“There’s a lot of traumatic things that we go thru, especially as young people,” he said

He said he feels empowered now that he’s found a way to channel his anger and energy in to action, working to better his community.  But he still has hesitation and fear when it comes to police.

“I haven’t seen much change, police are still discriminating,” he said. “I’m not really comfortable with police because just being who I am. A Black kid with dreads, its automatically, you’re discriminated against. …  I heard many of my Black friends have said when they get stopped, they don’t know what to do. They just freeze because they don’t want to make the wrong move. And that’s the same thing whether you’re driving or walking.”

Watch the full story here!