Photo credit: Quinn Clark
Hundreds of protesters followed Jacob Blake’s family to the Kenosha County Courthouse in a march that demanded justice for victims of police brutality.
Jacob Blake is a 29-year-old African-American male. He lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin. On August 23, Blake was shot by police officer Rusten Sheskey as he was walking toward his SUV with his three kids in the backseat of the vehicle. He was shot seven times in the back. The shooting has left Blake paralyzed from the waist down and he is now in a rehabilitation center in Chicago.
Reports say that police were responding to an altercation between Blake and his girlfriend, however, the uproar that followed depicted much more to the story. In a video which surfaced and broke news the following day, Blake was shown in an altercation with police that is all too familiar and similar to many of the police encounters that have been happening across the country.
Now, a family is left to fight for and figure out justice for their loved one, their son, and nephew. Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake was at a Greyhound bus station when he saw the video of his nephew being shot in the back 7 times.
“It was just breathtaking. I saw it at the Greyhound Bus Station as I was leaving to come down to Milwaukee,” Blake said. “My car was down. I couldn’t take the train. One of the young guys played it on video for me. It literally was breathtaking. It was a heinous act. I knew we had to get down there and help support our nephew.”
Shock and Horror
In the case of Jacob Blake, understanding what happened and supporting the cause has not been easy. The shock and horror of a shooting in a local town carries the history of racism and racial injustice. It sparked necessary outrage in the community. The Kenosha community was left in great damage. The news was spread all around the country, and citizens around the world were confused and called for action.
Community activist and Milwaukee resident, Khalil Coleman, says he was outraged and joined protests immediately along with the family and others, such as Frank Nitty and Vaun Mayes.
“We were out there for the first three days. The police tried to trap us in,” said Coleman. “Like I always tell the families, when your family takes on the identity of social justice, the revolution really belongs to the people. The family is just a catalyst, the family has to allow the people to shape what the revolution is.
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“When the people are marching in name of them, like with the case of Jake, people don’t know him personally, but they know the pain and the struggle of dealing with police bothering them when they walk down the street, so they know their personal experience. Everybody is bringing their own personal experience to the revolution for the family who identifies with multiple faces who have been treated and abused unjustly for years.”
The fact that a black man had been shot seven times in the back while entering a car with three of his children in the backseat upset many. The fact that this man was unarmed and innocent upset many. The fact that this man was 29-year-old Jacob Blake from Kenosha upset many. The fact that the horrific shooting and supposed altercation was caught on tape upset many. The fact that his family and friends and an entire community was left in disarray upset many.
Call to Action
A call to action happened. The following day, on a rainy afternoon, Blake’s family, his sister and his own mother, Julia Jackson took to the public in a press conference in tears and cried out for justice for her son.
“I am my brother’s keeper,” Blake’s sister began in a live press conference speech. “When you say the name Jacob Blake, make sure you say Father. Make sure you say cousin. Make sure you say brother. Make sure you say Uncle. But most importantly, make sure you say human.”
The family cried out against the injustice. Blake’s mother and sister were angry and in tears as the public looked on while their loved one and citizen lay in a hospital barely hanging onto his human life. Many around the world saw the speech and heard the cry, and the black community especially understood her cry. Kenosha, Milwaukee, and others around the world began to protest that day against racial injustice and have been protesting every day since.
Individuals have voiced their concerns over the Jacob Blake shooting. Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke and visited the city of Kenosha to support the family. The family’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump, spoke on it and called for justice within the system. Recently elected President Joe Biden spoke about it. The social media sphere has sent tweets and images. Celebrities and athletes have spoken publicly.
Bucks Boycott
Sports teams have spoken out. Wisconsin’s own sports teams protested. The Milwaukee Bucks, in particular, boycotted their game against the Orlando Magic during the playoffs in the NBA Bubble, and subsequent protests followed by many teams and players. It was one of the most important games of the season, and their boycott influenced a league-wide protest. It was spearheaded by then Bucks point guard George Hill. Hill brought up the idea of staying in the locker room during Game 3 against the Orlando Magic, as he stood in the locker room masked up and refused to play.
“When we take the court and represent Milwaukee and Wisconsin, we are expected to play at a high level, give maximum effort and hold each other accountable,” Hill said in a statement read aloud on behalf of the Bucks while standing near the locker room doors. “We hold ourselves to that standard, and in this moment we are demanding the same from lawmakers and law enforcement. We are calling for justice for Jacob Blake and demand the officers be held accountable.”
The NBA followed suit with protests. The day’s games and events were cancelled, and the remainder of playoff games were postponed until further notice. Players and coaches spoke out against racism and injustice. Meetings were held amongst the top leaders of the NBA in the bubble. When the playoffs returned, the NBA mirrored a protest by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick and knelt before each game during the National Anthem with “Blacks Lives Matter” T-shirts on over their warmups.
Following the National Basketball Association’s protests, athletes around the world protested and showed their support. The NFL locked arms during the National Anthem. The MLB knelt and locked arms before games. The NHL, also. Before UFC fights, fighters and boxers held up their fists and wore BLM and other messages on shirts in support.
T-shirts have not been a thing of the past during the protest and movement. Face masks have been made in honor of Jacob Blake. Murals and paintings have been created around the world in protest. Protests have continued. The National attention to the shooting of Jacob Blake has been astounding and not without good reason.
“Protests haven’t happened out of the blue. People put years into mastering the art of protest,” Coleman said. “So, when George Floyd died, and people said walk, it wasn’t random. People and families have orchestrated [the movement] for years. People didn’t know it was going to last 100 and something days. It’s organic. When it happened, it was revolutionized in the hearts and minds of people. Milwaukee didn’t just start protesting. The climate has been here and has been built. Each movement or each protest builds the next moment.”
Rallying Cry
It is all a rallying cry for justice. Just months after the fateful murder of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, the Blake incident happened. Just months after the shooting of Breonna Taylor and the protesting which followed that case, the nation and grieving families and communities have been forced to protest yet another unjust murder at the hands of police. The lack of accountability is inevitably at the center of the outrage, which is evident in the cases of Breonna Taylor, who was a 26-year-old woman shot to death during an unwarranted police invasion, and the others, such as, Blake and Floyd.
Shootings and protests have followed Blake’s shooting, which makes the fight for justice even more relevant and necessary yet prolonged. A shooting, which killed two protesters and injured a third, occurred at a riot in Kenosha. The attacker is 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who used an excuse of “self-defense” and has yet to be convicted.
The community around Wisconsin has been protesting the shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole since February, who was killed by police officer Joseph Mensah in the parking lot of Wauwatosa’s Mayfair Mall. Wisconsin has been grieving for a while. Since the shooting of Darius Simmons, which inspired the protesting of many community organizers like Coleman. Also, the shooting deaths of Dontre Hamilton and Syville Smith seem like they will never be forgotten. Such police encounters are not new to Wisconsin, and the surrounding areas don’t know if it ever will stop or if things will ever change.
“When St. Louis happened, people knew about Mike Brown, but people weren’t standing up yet. But the more people here about the same issues, the more people are going to stand up and that’s what starts an uprising,” Coleman says. “What made this protest different from when George Floyd died is the traffic. I remember when Freddie Gray got killed in Baltimore. The only thing we did differently in Milwaukee was include traffic. Before, it was just people walking the street. When Dontre died, we were just walking the street. Some protesters have been run over, hit by cars. But in Milwaukee, we have organization.”
The injustices that have been happening around the country have their similarities. Meanwhile, communities and families try to form a bond and build a bridge to protest against it through the midst of what’s transpired.
“The injustices that we see happening and so frequently, it makes you have to stand up. You cannot avoid standing up. It’s imperative that the people understand what’s going on. Activists getting up doing what they should be doing. Being active and being a part of change,” Justin Blake says.
Perhaps, this is why the case of Jacob Blake is special. Maybe this is why people are sick yet standing up. It takes a vessel, and it’s hard not to believe that individuals like Blake and others are not being used as vessels for justice. Their blood that is on the street runs in each of us and we see them and their families as they live their lives and try to figure out justice on national television in front of us.
“You can either lay down or you can stand up. My father marched with Dr. King three times. My great grandfather. We know about putting in time and making change. You just don’t have any alternatives. The only way to address it is by facing it head on. You have to face it head on.”
The goal of the Blake family is clear: To get justice. Time will tell, but the people will protest. The people will protest and wait as time passes.
