How One Young Person Can Start a Movement

For months, police brutality against people of color in America has been hotly debated in the news and online. For centuries, it has been a systemic problem in our country. But police brutality does not affect all American residents equally. There are many people in our community, including CFCS staff and clients, who will never experience mistreatment by the police. And there are many more CFCS staff and clients for whom this is a personal issue that has affected or will affect their families. The members of our community represent many different perspectives and experiences. Today, we want to share the story of Becky, a resident at Teens Learning Choices, whose experiences with police illuminates this issue in a unique way. 

Becky, who is 17, came to America from Ethiopia, a country of civil unrest, a little over a year ago. In her home country, the police are not figures of public trust and safety – they’re widely known to be corrupt and violent towards citizens. But Becky had always heard that the police in America were different. She’d heard that in the United States, the police helped citizens and protected communities.  

TLC staff and residents with Malden police officers.

Not even two years after Becky came to this country, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were both murdered by police. Protests were organized in cities across America, and there was a stream of footage online of police attacking innocent protesters and behaving violently and unpredictably. This greatly upset Becky; she thought that when she came to America, she wouldn’t have to worry about the police anymore. But there they were, on the nightly news, hurting people who looked like her.  

Around this time, Becky received an assignment from school to write a letter to someone in her community. Because she lives in TLC, which is in Malden, Becky wrote a letter to the Malden Police. She chose to write to the police because she didn’t want to be afraid of them anymore.  

In her letter, Becky shared with the police that the Black Lives Matter movement was really important to her because it helped her feel safer in her community. But she didn’t want to feel safe despite the police – she wanted to feel safe because of them. Becky said she would like to connect with the Malden PD, to meet them in person. She said that if she could connect with them, then maybe she wouldn’t be afraid that they would hurt her because of the color of her skin. 

After receiving her letter, the Malden PD invited Becky to visit their department, where she shared her story with them. Becky opened up for one of the first times about what she experienced while escaping her home country, and the injustice and mistreatment she experienced at the hands of officers and those of authority. Becky carries great distrust and trauma from these experiences, and doesn’t want this fear to overcome her ability to feel safe in her community here. 

Sharing her story with a room full of police officers she had just met was certainly an emotional moment for Becky, but it was emotional for her audience as well. The officers were able to connect with Becky a little in that moment, while also recognizing that they could never imagine what she’d been through. In turn, several police in the room, including African-American and white officers, shared their own stories with Becky, to help her see them more as people and less as a threat.  

Beckey didn’t want to feel safe despite the police – she wanted to feel safe because of them.

Malden police chief Kevin Molis was one of the officers meeting with Becky, and he was particularly moved by Becky’s story. Chief Molis drew an interesting parallel to his own experience. Black people are often stereotyped for no reason. As a white man, Chief Molis never carried particular fears about going out in public until recently. Now, he said, when he enters a public space, even though he hasn’t hurt anyone, other people often fear him or see him in a negative way. 

In this small way, Chief Molis and Becky could connect over the experience of being stereotyped. This connection shifted Chief Molis’s perspective, and inspired him to want to connect with more citizens like Becky. 

The Malden PD and TLC are already developing practices to strengthen the connection between the police and the TLC community. Plans include self-defense classes for TLC residents, designating specific officers as liaisons between TLC and the police, and officers regularly visiting the home to introduce themselves to residents, get to know them, and help residents understand policing and the officers as human beings, a little better. TLC staff and the police are excited to work together to give our young residents an ally in their community. 

Since her first meeting with the Malden PD, Becky was nominated to become part of Ascentria’s youth advisor council. She is focusing on her studies and on keeping a healthy routine during the pandemic. But she is also looking forward to working more with the police and TLC staff to create a safer community for herself and her fellow citizens.