Hello everyone,
I feel very compelled to write something right now. I’m really bummed out and maybe even angry. But I should mention that what I am writing should only reflect upon myself, Jason, here at Back Alley Bikes.
About a year ago I made a post about a rally happening in Downtown Detroit. It was a rally for Trayvon Martin who was deemed “suspicious” by a neighborhood watchman for being black, young and male basically. This neighborhood watchman shot and killed Trayvon.
Now a year later, that shooter is found not guilty of any crime. So I’m back here at our website writing again connecting this horrible and politicized event to what Back Alley Bikes does.
As I wrote in that post over a year ago, Back Alley Bikes is not a political organization. We’ve stayed away from political advocacy for a few reasons, but I encourage you to go downtown tonight at 6pm. I hear there is a meet-up at Grand Circus Park.
I won’t be there as I will be leading our fifth Progressive Dinner by Bicycle event. This is a fundraiser ride and I think now is an appropriate time to tell you a story from last winter. You see, last years Progressive Dinner rides help raise funds for Back Alley Bikes to take two of our youth to the Youth Bike Summit in New York City. On the way back, we all had an interesting experience together that I would like to share.
We were driving back from a great time in NYC and somewhere in Ohio on the turnpike we stopped for dinner at a rest stop. For those of you that don’t know, I (Jason) am transgender and depending on how I’m dressed in public, people will react to me in many different ways. When I walked into a rest stop late at night in the middle of Ohio with my co-worker Heather and two teenagers that also happen to be black, it seemed as if the reaction multiplied.
Sure, I can’t know what exactly it was about our group that set this experience in motion, but I think the identities I laid out above had something to do with it. Almost immediately a janitorial worker at the rest stop started following us around…very closely. The stares were rude and the situation was a little bit tense.
Once we got our food and sat down in the mostly deserted food court, this worker made sure she walked by our table and stared us down. She was so close to the table, her hips almost brushed up against it.
Luckily, that was the worse of it, but the situation was very uncomfortable the whole time.
Are you making the connection yet? No, okay, more stories.
One of our volunteers who happens to be a fully grown black male has told us various times about how he has gotten pulled over on his bicycle by Wayne State Police. Often it is because he matches the description of a bicycle thief. This is a regular occurrence. You know, when he is riding to our shop to donate his time to help kids out.
Now let me tell you that I have broken the law on my bicycle right in front of Wayne State Police. One time, a friend of mine had his U-lock freeze so the key didn’t work. I took a saw to it in broad daylight and three Wayne State Police officers passed me by without saying a word. The fourth one eventually stopped me and asked what I was doing. When my friend explained and presented the key, the officer left.
If you don’t know by now, my skin is white.
Are you making the connection?
My job is pretty great. I work with youth and teach them that they have the ability to build and fix their own bicycles. I help organize rides for youth. I was stoked yesterday to hear from our ride leader, George, that we’ve had our biggest weekly Youth Ride Club ride yesterday outside of our annual Safe Streets Youth Ride. Most rides we have about five kids. Yesterday we had around 13 or so.
Also, yesterday while I was at a party with friends, I saw the news that Trayvon Martin’s murderer was ‘not guilty’. I thought about the kids that come to Back Alley Bikes. In a small way, those kids are my kids. My skin is white, my experiences are definitely different, but Trayvon Martin most certainly could have been a participant at Back Alley Bikes. Trayvon Martin could have been one of my kids.
So I’m unsure about things. We are trying to work for a Detroit where youth are more independent in getting around by bicycle and fixing things with tools. A Detroit where our youth have skills to fix whatever they want and do their best to make their way. But now I have to wonder if such empowerment is going to make them “suspicious”.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware that racial profiling, especially of young black males, is nothing new. But this murder case sets us all back a little bit.
Anyway, time is wasting and I have to go make preparations for this fundraising ride. I hope it goes well and we can use this money to take some of our youth to New York this winter. I hope our youth come back with their own ideas about how they can work with bicycles in Detroit. I hope for a day where the streets are safe for youth to use. All of us really.
Who’s streets?