#Justice: A #BlackLivesMatter Drama
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Blacks are 2.5 times more likely than whites to be shot and killed by police. In recent years, those statistics have roared into focus through the deaths of boys like Tamir Rice, women like Rekia Boyd, and men like Philando Castille. Their images fill the screens of our computers, televisions and phones, but we never learn what happens to those they leave behind.
As a journalist, I've spoken to the families of those who've died in high-profile police shootings. In doing so, I've learned about strength in the face of heartbreak. I've learned what it means to fight.
That’s why I began writing “Justice.” I wanted to bring humanity to the social media memes and hashtags that too often define this struggle. I wanted to give those families a voice.
By weaving an edge-of-your-seat mystery from the aftermath of two fictional police-involved shootings, "Justice" takes listeners on an action-packed journey through the lives of families on both sides of the divide.
As the author of 10 books, I'm humbled to be able to tell this important story, but my team needs your help to complete it.
Your contribution will allow us to pay the twenty actors who are involved in this story. It will also help us purchase studio time, license music and sound effects, hire professional editors, and pay the production team.
The decision to have the community fund the story is an important one. Only with the community's help can we tell this story with all the passion and all the truth that it requires. But telling a story like this requires more than money. It requires voices.
The actors who have joined me to tell the story are black and white, young and old, and they have helped me to give voice to the civil rights struggle of our time. Like me, they have watched both civilians and police officers killed in horrific violence, and they have reflected.
Jamon Watson, who plays Margaret Butler, a mother who has lost a son to a police shooting, says police have to deal with the biases they sometimes bring to their work.
Greg Frost, a novelist who plays two roles in the drama, says the deaths of men like Philando Castille and Alton Sterling, as well as the attack on police officers in Dallas, put things in perspective for him. “I’m portraying a cop who kills, and a lawyer who believes his client’s been framed by cops for a murder," Frost said. "Two white characters operating on two sides of the chasm of violence, killing, and racism. And then there’s the real life Dallas police chief, David Brown, a black man trapped smack in the crossfire. Same chasm, but he’s stuck straddling it.”
In reality, we are all straddling that chasm. But with this project, you can help to bridge the divide.
With this project, you can help us to get "Justice."
As a journalist, I've spoken to the families of those who've died in high-profile police shootings. In doing so, I've learned about strength in the face of heartbreak. I've learned what it means to fight.
That’s why I began writing “Justice.” I wanted to bring humanity to the social media memes and hashtags that too often define this struggle. I wanted to give those families a voice.
By weaving an edge-of-your-seat mystery from the aftermath of two fictional police-involved shootings, "Justice" takes listeners on an action-packed journey through the lives of families on both sides of the divide.
As the author of 10 books, I'm humbled to be able to tell this important story, but my team needs your help to complete it.
Your contribution will allow us to pay the twenty actors who are involved in this story. It will also help us purchase studio time, license music and sound effects, hire professional editors, and pay the production team.
The decision to have the community fund the story is an important one. Only with the community's help can we tell this story with all the passion and all the truth that it requires. But telling a story like this requires more than money. It requires voices.
The actors who have joined me to tell the story are black and white, young and old, and they have helped me to give voice to the civil rights struggle of our time. Like me, they have watched both civilians and police officers killed in horrific violence, and they have reflected.
Jamon Watson, who plays Margaret Butler, a mother who has lost a son to a police shooting, says police have to deal with the biases they sometimes bring to their work.
Greg Frost, a novelist who plays two roles in the drama, says the deaths of men like Philando Castille and Alton Sterling, as well as the attack on police officers in Dallas, put things in perspective for him. “I’m portraying a cop who kills, and a lawyer who believes his client’s been framed by cops for a murder," Frost said. "Two white characters operating on two sides of the chasm of violence, killing, and racism. And then there’s the real life Dallas police chief, David Brown, a black man trapped smack in the crossfire. Same chasm, but he’s stuck straddling it.”
In reality, we are all straddling that chasm. But with this project, you can help to bridge the divide.
With this project, you can help us to get "Justice."
Organizer
Solomon Jones
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA