Police Brutality

On October 29th, my friend Temistoclese (TemBlessed) was the victim of racial profiling and police brutality while traveling to perform at a Cape Verdean student association Halloween party at UMASS Dartmouth. On his way into the party, campus police and state troopers stopped him and four other Black males, apparently as suspects in a shooting that took place across campus just prior. All of the men were handcuffed, laid on the ground, and searched. When Tem objected to a body search and proclaimed that he was aware of his rights, the police attacked him. He was beaten with a metal flashlight that disformed his ear, and spent the night in jail where he said it was "like a scene out of a Martin Scorsese's film."

Read the local newspaper's account of the incident. It is pretty bad reporting. By simultaneously reporting on the other "non-student incident" and the police stopping Tem (initially identified as another "non-student") but not clearly separating the two events, it would be easy to confuse the two incidents or jump to the conclusion that Tem was somehow connected to the shooting. Lazy reporting? Rhetorical smoke and mirrors? It is misleading, but is it intentional?

Temistoclese is one of the most positive people I have had the pleasure to know, someone who honestly believes in the power of love. Not touchy feely love, but love in action. Love that is strong and refuses to buckle under oppression and violence. My heart goes out to him now. I have little doubt that he will find a way to shape this into a teaching & learning experience and seek to provide a voice for other victims of police aggression. I suggest he sues the bastards while he's at it.