Proud Woke Man by Allan Maule
What happens when police mistake a white protester for black—and he captures the encounter on video? Does technology make it possible for flawed, individual courage to effect change in a corrupt and broken system? Can someone bear witness to racial injustice while still clinging to his privilege?
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A viral video captures a white policeman shooting and killing an unarmed black teenager,...
What happens when police mistake a white protester for black—and he captures the encounter on video? Does technology make it possible for flawed, individual courage to effect change in a corrupt and broken system? Can someone bear witness to racial injustice while still clinging to his privilege?
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A viral video captures a white policeman shooting and killing an unarmed black teenager, Julius Thompson. This video draws protestors to Thompson’s southern city, including a white man named Aaron and his black girlfriend, Lea. Aaron and Lea organize a protest at the white officer’s house in which the protestors all wear black hoodies pulled up in solidarity for Thompson, who wore such a hoodie when he died.
As Lea films Aaron on his phone, the police attack Aaron and, because they cannot see his face with his hoodie raised, call him n***** as they hit him. He pulls back his hoodie and looks to see Lea, still filming the encounter. The police panic, then confiscate all the camera phones before arresting Lea and Aaron. The two find themselves arrested and in a cell at the county’s police headquarters.
Now Aaron believes if he can only get his phone back and publish the video, he can bring down the entire police department that murdered Thompson. Lea knows they’re in a dangerous position as long as they're in the custody of racist police officers, so she urges caution. Things grow more complex as they are separately interrogated by Marcus, a black detective driven to protect his department and the city he grew up in.
As Aaron, Lea, and Marcus face impossible choices of truth, justice, and loyalty in the internet age, they each must decide how far they’re willing to go to protect what—and who—they love.