“I’m No Monster!”

Everybody got their story. What does yours say?

Flashback – it’s your junior year of high school. You’re in honors classes. Getting ready to apply to colleges. Then BOOM. Gunshot. Handcuffs. Tears. Stigma. You’re on trial for felony murder.

You’re 17 so you’re housed in an adult maximum security prison. Many of the men around you have been there more times than they can count. You’re trying not to be noticed. But that’s impossible.

Your skin tone matches theirs. But your story doesn’t. Or does it?

“Recognize the company you keep…But what is good company? Who keeps it?”

Narrator when a$ap showing steve the streets

Monster is a 2018 film starring A$AP Rocky and Kelvin Harrison Jr. It’s about a 17-year old Black boy (yes I said boy) named Steve who is a junior in high school studying film. He carries his camera around 24/7 because the world is his canvas. His parents are married and he has a little brother. Just imagine the most upstanding teenager you can from the movies. Imagine everything besides the pink Carlton sweater around his shoulders. That’s Steve. Now he’s facing felony murder. *(there are no spoilers in this blog post)*

Many lawyers get asked their feelings or thoughts when we watch law or crime-related shows or movies. The focus of Monster wasn’t on the lawyering, or the police behavior or investigations, or the trial process. The focus was on how this 17-year old’s story gets told. He narrates some of the movie. The title is “Monster” because that’s what America sees 17-year-old Black men. As monsters. At the end of his opening statement, the prosecutor points his finger in A$AP’s face and yells “he’s a monster!” and then points his finger in Steve’s face and yells “he’s a monster!” So this wasn’t a movie where I got caught up in how realistic the procedure and cross-examination questions were. This was a movie where I got caught up in how close to home it hit for me.

“Half that jury … they decided you were guilty the moment they laid eyes on you. You’re young. You’re Black. And you’re on trial. What else do they need to know?”

Steve’s lawyer to steve

When I recently spoke to a high school class about being a public defender and becoming a lawyer, one of the students asked if it was hard for us to not get “involved” in our cases. As in do we take our work home with us? I explained to her that at first, I did take my cases home with me – I felt the pain personally whenever I didn’t get a victorious result for my client. But as the years passed, I had to learn and accept that we do not make up the facts and we have to do the best with what we are given. So now it is easier for me to leave my cases at work, but I told the student that it’s still hard for me to not bring home the cases where young Black and brown people are sucked into the system. (Click here to watch my talk to the class on YouTube).

That’s my kryptonite. We see and hear far too often cases where 15, 16, 17 year olds even 22, 23, 24 year olds boys and girls are facing serious felony charges. Murder. Armed robbery. Aggravated assault. Gang related crimes. Possessing firearms. Possessing knives. Accused of walking life without fear of using those firearms and knives. But when the system views these CHILDREN as MONSTERS, I view them as lost, scared, sad, angry, misdirected HUMAN BEINGS. I haven’t given up on them. I will never give up on them. They have a story to tell and I will fight tooth and nail to make sure they aren’t telling their stories from behind bars. From within 4 walls of a cold prison cell.

Trial ain’t about what’s real. It’s not about what’s true. It’s about you knowing you. All the lawyers and juries see is another Black man with a rap sheet down the block. Everybody says they’re innocent, but the system says they’re guilty.

nas to steve in prison cell

Monster is a Netflix movie, and I hope it’s still on there at the time you’re reading this. You don’t have to understand the law or legal formalities in order to feel this movie. This movie hit home for me because it drew me in. In Athens, GA there are a handful of young people aged 15-24 facing felony charges such as murder. In one week recently, there were 2 articles of 2 separate incidents where 2 different 15 year old boys were accused of murder. You’re innocent until proven guilty, but when you’re young and Black you’re guilty until proven innocent, in the system’s eyes. You’re denied bond. You’re denied a chance. You’re defined as a monster. All before the jury is even empaneled. This movie reminds me of the words I shared in my “Not Another Black Life” speech last October.

My hope for Athens moving forward is that more resources focused on education and building character, rather than on incarceration and dehumanization, will be placed in the right organizations and utilized by those in leadership. If more people focused on trying to locate and solve the root of the issue, rather than giving up on the person, we would reduce the recidivism rates and have more successful stories to share. At the end of the day I am extremely passionate about breaking the current cycle of young people of color entering the criminal justice system.

Not Another Black Life — Imani J.

“No one has any idea who I am.” Everybody got their story. What does yours say?

“People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'” — Luke 18:15-16, NIV.

Moni Jay, Off the Record