WTFH – Walking While Black!
Walking While Black
June 4, 2012. A clean-shaven, neatly dressed 48-year old black guy, named A.J. Ali goes for a walk on St. John’s Lane just south of Route 40 in Howard, County, Maryland and gets stopped and interrogated by police as a robbery suspect because he “looks like he’s not from that neighborhood.” Click Here to watch the video and return.
Have you ever been profiled by law enforcement in America claiming that you look like someone they are looking for or accuse you of breaking and entering and all you were doing was walking down the street; unarmed and minding your own business?
Walking while Black could be dangerous. Walk with friends if possible, obey all traffic laws, know your rights, be respectful but firm about your rights when you are interrogated, have your attorney on speed dial, get the officer’s name and badge number, take photos and video, and be extra careful walking especially at night.
This incidence involved A.J. Ali, who was walking during mid-morning (daylight) on a sunny Monday on St. John’s Lane, in Howard County, Maryland. A Howard County Police Officer stopped him to run a check to see if he was the the person they were looking for that was allegedly responsible for a series of breaking and entering in the upscale community.
A.J. whipped out his cell phone and immediately started video-taping the incidence of him experiencing first hand what it felt like to be walking while black and he uploaded the live video onto YouTube; that was June, 2012.
Since then, A.J. who also just happened to be a writer, producer, and TV host with a strong track record of meaningful content, philanthropy and social activism connected with some powerful Hollywood friends and is now the producer of an upcoming Documentary Film entitled: “Walking While Black”! Go to his Facebook Fan Page to learn more about the project. Make sure you LIKE the page so that you can stay informed as the project grows and is ready for distribution. And as with any major undertakings such as developing a featured-filled movie documentary it takes money to complete. I contributed and I am asking you to consider doing the same. CLICK HERE to donate/contribute to the making of the movie documentary: “Walking While Black“.
In the meantime, let’s talk about the issue. Feel free to share your experience, talk about the problem and the solution. And maybe, your experience will be included in the documentary being produced by A.J. Ali a Black Man who was harassed by a Howard County, Police Officer in Maryland walking while black.