Justice For James

Written By: Dhane Pearley

Stuck in a different world away from the truth, and confused about why people treat you the way they do. James, a teen from a small town called Point Place in Wisconsin was living in that world, stuck in an alternate universe. At the outset of our story, James was a strong young man, given his home life, James struggled a little bit because his mom was a single parent raising two kids.  But never lacked for anything, always got anything wanted and was grateful for everything he got. She worked twelve hours out of the day and still had the strength to come home and cook, help with homework, read stories and have some time for herself. She always told her kids to be good people no matter the circumstances they had been given, and that there  is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

   James was always a people person,he loved to make people laugh and feel good. He was respectful when dealing with teachers, friends, parents, older citizens and girls. James felt like doing someone wrong was such a weak and cowardly thing. So he chose to always do right by people and be the better person. 

One morning, James was on his way to school and he felt like something was off. He was walking down the block around the corner from school and outta nowhere cop cars start rushing the down block with sirens playing loud. James was a little nervous and confused about the situation so he decided to walk the opposite direction of the cops cars. As he was turning to head the other way, three white police officers started running in his direction yelling “stop walking or I will have to use force.” James slowly turned  around and put his hands up, he was scared, senseless, confused,  and worried. 

At that moment James did not know if he was going  to make it out alive, he had seen too many of these kinds of situations on social media.  The officers told him to ”put his hand behind his head and go slowly on the ground“, they put him in handcuffs and put him in the police car. The officers said “anything you say will be used against you in the court of law.” Later that night James was released ,the officers told James and his Mom that he was arrested for a crime he did not commit. In other words James was racially profiled by the police and was arrested for no reason!

The next morning James’ mom put him in an Uber to go to school, because she did not want to risk anything happening. When he got to school everyone treated him  like he was a criminal, they looked at him as if he was some type of monster. As the day went on more people treated James differently and were secretive when he was around. He tried to just be himself, but everyone made James feel like he was bothering them, so he just told the nurse he was feeling sick and went home early. 

Two weeks past and everyone was still acting the same, James was so confused on why everyone just changed up outta nowhere. Later on, James was in science class and is paired up with the new girl named Diana. He could not put his finger on but she was different from everyone else in the school, she actually talked and interacted with him. James asked “why did you choose to be my partner ?”Diana said “ I feel what you feel, and want to be there for you, no should go through what we’ve been through alone!”

While Diana and James were in class she started to break down what was going on with everyone in school. James didn’t know what to say, he felt what Diana felt and did not know what to do about it. He was so confused on why the world is the way it is, how young black children could be accused of a crime they did not commit,or how black men could get abused by police officers for just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Diana told James, “we should try to make a change in the world and bring our stories to the world”. The only thing that had James confused was why she said that, and why she was feeling the same exact emotions he felt. James thought for a second and remembered what his mom always told him…”there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.”

After class James and Diana went to lunch together to talk more, she told him about how they should tell the world about what happened to them. But James did not feel the same way, he did not want to bring more attention to the situation. He just wanted everyone to go back to treating him equally, and he wanted everything to be normal. Diana was in shock, she never met someone like James. He was selfless and just wanted everyone to be happy. Diana felt bad because people like James deserve more respect and should be commended  for what they put into the world. 

From that moment on,Diana devoted all her time to make sure that the world knows what happened to a great young man named James, and to making sure he gets the justice he deserves.