This past weekend, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris Perry featured three young men speaking about race, the murder of Trayvon Martin and the perils of growing up Black and male. Teenagers Diallo McClammy, C.J. Morrison, and George Nunez were joined by Jawanza Kunjufu urban school consultant and author of “There is Nothing Wrong With Black Students.”
Nunez’s reaction to learning of Martin’s death is particularly heartbreaking. The 16-year-old Bronx high school junior said “How could this happen…he was walking down the street, harmless, didn’t mean to cause trouble and here comes this guy who wants to take his life.”
All three boys tell Harris Perry that they have been stopped by police officers for random interrogation. Morrison recounts being harassed by an officer after finishing a game of basketball in a local park and asks “Why is it that we as young ( men are always being questioned for things that every kid does?”
“Every day…my mom tells me ‘watch the people you hang out with, because the police are always watching you” said McClammy.
[WATCH THE DISCUSSION HERE]
