((PKG)) Race Through the Lens of Young Black Men & Their
Mothers
((TRT: 08:34))
((Banner: Mothers and Sons))
((Reporter: Marsha James))
((Camera: Jeff Swicord))
((Producer: Jacquelyn De Phillips))
((Map: Bowie, Maryland)
((Main characters: 2 males))
((Sub characters: 2 females))
((NATS: Protesters chant))
Black lives matter! Black lives matter!
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
The protests, as a result of the murder of George Floyd, has been
really, really painful to watch. Just from the standpoint of,
((Stills Courtesy: Lisa McDougal))
I'm the mother of three Black men and I'm the younger sister of three
brothers. You think that a person, humanity would put value on a
person's life. That's what you’ve always been taught. That's what
you've always taught your children. And then to see someone
murdered in cold blood is just, it’s heartbreaking. It makes you angry.
It’s a very focused agenda that you have to have as a parent of a
Black son to make sure that they stay alive.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
I think I told my mother this, but one time I was sitting in the parking
lot at McDonald's. We had just graduated and everything. So, me
and my friend wanted to celebrate. You know, we were just all sitting
in the parking lot, eating food and just listening to music, basically.
So then, a police officer shined a light in the car and everything.
Then he came to us like, ‘Do you guys have anything in here?’ And
so, I just said, I said, ‘No.’ It wasn't about like two minutes later, six,
seven more police cars came and came. And they had pulled me out
the car, pulled the other people out the car. But later on, I realized
that the person who fit my description, so-called, didn't even fit my
description. I mean, he was, he was bald. He was like light skinned.
((Jovon Harrison, Mother of Delvontae))
That’s just my biggest fear, is having somebody come to my door and
say, ‘Are you Devontae Harrison's mom? This is what happened.’
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
What I worry about the most is not their actions, but the actions of
other people. That someone will decide that this is the day and that
is the Black man that I'm going to target.
((NATS: Delvontae and Josef playing football))
All right, it’s been a minute.
((Jovon Harrison, Mother of Delvontae))
The conversations that I have with Delvontae, just the simple stuff,
just walking in a store. And that's why I teach him a lot about
manners and being respectful. You say, ‘Yes ma'am’, you say, ‘No
ma'am’, and that goes for everybody. It's kind of like defense
mechanisms to keep him as this gentle giant so that he's not seen as
somebody that's overbearing or he's a thug or when you see him, you
instantly don't want to grab your purse or don't want to lock your door.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
The way that my mother is, she's very protective. She always makes
sure I keep my head on straight, makes sure I get in no trouble and I
go through all types of protocol whether that's driving, me walking,
me coming to the police, even my father because I am his only son.
So, they always make sure I do the right thing.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
There's no difference than what happened in Minneapolis than what
happened on plantations in Virginia and North Carolina and Georgia
since the founding of this country. We have to decide as people that
we're not going to take it anymore. They have a right to be who they
are, to learn how they can, to function, to drive, to walk, to run, that is
their inalienable right. And anybody that attacks them because of
that is dead wrong. To think that you may not come out of a run or a
walk alive, but if you come out of it alive, then let that fuel your fire to
make you want to make sure that somebody else doesn't die. And
that's the kind of injustice that you raise them to tackle.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
I was fortunate to not have experienced it, but I know that it's still
going on today. And I know that I want to do my part any way that I
can to end it and advocate for others.
((NATS: Protest))
No justice, no peace.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
Seeing all of these protests on social media is kind of like
overwhelming because all of it is happening at once.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
With the police brutality, I'm not seeing no repercussions for the same
action that they're doing as if somebody of my color would do it.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
George Floyd was the final straw. The police department needs to
change. I know there are petitions going around for police reforms
and there are other things that we don't know about that need to
change. But as much as you want to do our part, the other
ethnicities, other communities need to step up as well. I know there
are some white people that are advocating for change, but needs to
be all of them, not some of them.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
The target needs to come off of the back of the Black men in this
country. I don't care how many laws are passed until people have a
change of heart in a systematic environment that breeds the kind of
contempt that leads to racism, then I don't know how much is going to
change, but it starts very, very young.
((Jovon Harrison, Mother of Delvontae))
I tell him every day, ‘You're Black, but you're just as powerful as any
other race. There's nothing you can't do. We have successful
politicians that are Black. We have inventors. Your only limitation is
you.’
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
I am really proud to be Black. It's a lot that comes with it, of course.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
I am proud to be a Black man. There's no one like us. And we are
only individual beings, but we are equal to them as well. We have the
same opportunities, the same goals, the same drive, creativity,
everything. We have a voice just like you do and just like everyone
else does.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
I believe the change in this country is going to come from this
generation, the generation now that's marching, the generation that's
graduating from college, the millennials and the generation that have
the resources. They have the tenacity, they have the nerve and they
don't have fear. They are very open in ways that the older
generations were not so much.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
I think it all starts out with the people in power. A president should
govern themselves as somebody who, yes, I'm a regular person just
like you, but I still have a bigger responsibility and that's everybody.
So, I shouldn't be spending all my time on social media when I should
just be spending my time, okay, how do I fix certain issues in the
world? Like yes, homeless people. Yes, racism. Yes, creating
peace with other countries so that we can have allies in certain
situations. And also, like helping us get out of debt and all. All types
of issues that even we don't know but he does.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
My boys, they're frustrated that people don't see the content of their
character, that the first thing they do is judge them by the color of
their skin and their own insecurities. But that goes all the way back to
the demonization and the villainization of Black men, period.
((NATS: Martin Luther King
((Chyron: Martin Luther King – August 28, 1963))
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
It all comes down to, we have to be treated equally. You know, that’s
what our founding fathers, so called, wanted us to believe in and
that's what all the activists want us to believe in too. I do have white
friends, you know. I guess they traveled around so, nowadays, our
conversations are limited, you know. They feel as though they can't
joke around me as much because they feel as though they are
everything going on, one joke, I might take it the wrong way. From
the start, we had a mutual agreement, you know. I know what type of
person they are. They know what type person I am. So, it’s like,
okay, we both comfortable, you know. We both can talk and
everything. I know they would never cross that line because they
wasn't grown up to be that way, but they still kind of feel, you know,
hesitant a little bit, which is understandable.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
They walk around with the world in their hand. At the time when I
was their age, I don't know if I would have been able to handle the
influx of information. So, they're already smarter than us. We can't
be threatened by that. We have to empower them in order to make
sure that when we're old, they are able to create the kind of society
that we can live in and thrive in our old age. We can't fear them and
we definitely cannot control them. We need to empower them to
move forward and change this society because they are ready.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
Yeah, older people say we are the future. So, it's really going to take
all of us. Yes, they did their part. They set the foundation. Now we
got to be on top of that. We got to actually take that farther than what
it is, because we're the next presidents, lawyers, governors, all that.
So, we do have to take that role and to come together and actually
push that along, build that up.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
The world is changing. Each passing year, each passing generation,
things are different. When it comes to us and what we're living on
now, we, it's our turn.
Mothers
((TRT: 08:34))
((Banner: Mothers and Sons))
((Reporter: Marsha James))
((Camera: Jeff Swicord))
((Producer: Jacquelyn De Phillips))
((Map: Bowie, Maryland)
((Main characters: 2 males))
((Sub characters: 2 females))
((NATS: Protesters chant))
Black lives matter! Black lives matter!
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
The protests, as a result of the murder of George Floyd, has been
really, really painful to watch. Just from the standpoint of,
((Stills Courtesy: Lisa McDougal))
I'm the mother of three Black men and I'm the younger sister of three
brothers. You think that a person, humanity would put value on a
person's life. That's what you’ve always been taught. That's what
you've always taught your children. And then to see someone
murdered in cold blood is just, it’s heartbreaking. It makes you angry.
It’s a very focused agenda that you have to have as a parent of a
Black son to make sure that they stay alive.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
I think I told my mother this, but one time I was sitting in the parking
lot at McDonald's. We had just graduated and everything. So, me
and my friend wanted to celebrate. You know, we were just all sitting
in the parking lot, eating food and just listening to music, basically.
So then, a police officer shined a light in the car and everything.
Then he came to us like, ‘Do you guys have anything in here?’ And
so, I just said, I said, ‘No.’ It wasn't about like two minutes later, six,
seven more police cars came and came. And they had pulled me out
the car, pulled the other people out the car. But later on, I realized
that the person who fit my description, so-called, didn't even fit my
description. I mean, he was, he was bald. He was like light skinned.
((Jovon Harrison, Mother of Delvontae))
That’s just my biggest fear, is having somebody come to my door and
say, ‘Are you Devontae Harrison's mom? This is what happened.’
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
What I worry about the most is not their actions, but the actions of
other people. That someone will decide that this is the day and that
is the Black man that I'm going to target.
((NATS: Delvontae and Josef playing football))
All right, it’s been a minute.
((Jovon Harrison, Mother of Delvontae))
The conversations that I have with Delvontae, just the simple stuff,
just walking in a store. And that's why I teach him a lot about
manners and being respectful. You say, ‘Yes ma'am’, you say, ‘No
ma'am’, and that goes for everybody. It's kind of like defense
mechanisms to keep him as this gentle giant so that he's not seen as
somebody that's overbearing or he's a thug or when you see him, you
instantly don't want to grab your purse or don't want to lock your door.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
The way that my mother is, she's very protective. She always makes
sure I keep my head on straight, makes sure I get in no trouble and I
go through all types of protocol whether that's driving, me walking,
me coming to the police, even my father because I am his only son.
So, they always make sure I do the right thing.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
There's no difference than what happened in Minneapolis than what
happened on plantations in Virginia and North Carolina and Georgia
since the founding of this country. We have to decide as people that
we're not going to take it anymore. They have a right to be who they
are, to learn how they can, to function, to drive, to walk, to run, that is
their inalienable right. And anybody that attacks them because of
that is dead wrong. To think that you may not come out of a run or a
walk alive, but if you come out of it alive, then let that fuel your fire to
make you want to make sure that somebody else doesn't die. And
that's the kind of injustice that you raise them to tackle.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
I was fortunate to not have experienced it, but I know that it's still
going on today. And I know that I want to do my part any way that I
can to end it and advocate for others.
((NATS: Protest))
No justice, no peace.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
Seeing all of these protests on social media is kind of like
overwhelming because all of it is happening at once.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
With the police brutality, I'm not seeing no repercussions for the same
action that they're doing as if somebody of my color would do it.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
George Floyd was the final straw. The police department needs to
change. I know there are petitions going around for police reforms
and there are other things that we don't know about that need to
change. But as much as you want to do our part, the other
ethnicities, other communities need to step up as well. I know there
are some white people that are advocating for change, but needs to
be all of them, not some of them.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
The target needs to come off of the back of the Black men in this
country. I don't care how many laws are passed until people have a
change of heart in a systematic environment that breeds the kind of
contempt that leads to racism, then I don't know how much is going to
change, but it starts very, very young.
((Jovon Harrison, Mother of Delvontae))
I tell him every day, ‘You're Black, but you're just as powerful as any
other race. There's nothing you can't do. We have successful
politicians that are Black. We have inventors. Your only limitation is
you.’
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
I am really proud to be Black. It's a lot that comes with it, of course.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
I am proud to be a Black man. There's no one like us. And we are
only individual beings, but we are equal to them as well. We have the
same opportunities, the same goals, the same drive, creativity,
everything. We have a voice just like you do and just like everyone
else does.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
I believe the change in this country is going to come from this
generation, the generation now that's marching, the generation that's
graduating from college, the millennials and the generation that have
the resources. They have the tenacity, they have the nerve and they
don't have fear. They are very open in ways that the older
generations were not so much.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
I think it all starts out with the people in power. A president should
govern themselves as somebody who, yes, I'm a regular person just
like you, but I still have a bigger responsibility and that's everybody.
So, I shouldn't be spending all my time on social media when I should
just be spending my time, okay, how do I fix certain issues in the
world? Like yes, homeless people. Yes, racism. Yes, creating
peace with other countries so that we can have allies in certain
situations. And also, like helping us get out of debt and all. All types
of issues that even we don't know but he does.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
My boys, they're frustrated that people don't see the content of their
character, that the first thing they do is judge them by the color of
their skin and their own insecurities. But that goes all the way back to
the demonization and the villainization of Black men, period.
((NATS: Martin Luther King
((Chyron: Martin Luther King – August 28, 1963))
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
It all comes down to, we have to be treated equally. You know, that’s
what our founding fathers, so called, wanted us to believe in and
that's what all the activists want us to believe in too. I do have white
friends, you know. I guess they traveled around so, nowadays, our
conversations are limited, you know. They feel as though they can't
joke around me as much because they feel as though they are
everything going on, one joke, I might take it the wrong way. From
the start, we had a mutual agreement, you know. I know what type of
person they are. They know what type person I am. So, it’s like,
okay, we both comfortable, you know. We both can talk and
everything. I know they would never cross that line because they
wasn't grown up to be that way, but they still kind of feel, you know,
hesitant a little bit, which is understandable.
((Lisa McDougal, Mother of Josef))
They walk around with the world in their hand. At the time when I
was their age, I don't know if I would have been able to handle the
influx of information. So, they're already smarter than us. We can't
be threatened by that. We have to empower them in order to make
sure that when we're old, they are able to create the kind of society
that we can live in and thrive in our old age. We can't fear them and
we definitely cannot control them. We need to empower them to
move forward and change this society because they are ready.
((Delvontae Harrison, College Student))
Yeah, older people say we are the future. So, it's really going to take
all of us. Yes, they did their part. They set the foundation. Now we
got to be on top of that. We got to actually take that farther than what
it is, because we're the next presidents, lawyers, governors, all that.
So, we do have to take that role and to come together and actually
push that along, build that up.
((Josef McDougal, College Student))
The world is changing. Each passing year, each passing generation,
things are different. When it comes to us and what we're living on
now, we, it's our turn.
