Thanks for sharing, Marjorie. I also appreciate you calling attention to the fact that the term "Black" may not be used the same way it is in the United States, but this "crime of face" is still happening to people with darker skin. It highlights a global problem, in which people with darker skin, black people, people of color, and immigrants are treated differently by law enforcement. This is an issue of whiteness.
I Re-write a response, it seems that the first one haven't been accepted (or seen?)
I have been witness of an arrest of people from migration, not black people but people with dark skins.
As I said it before, I am an empatic person and I was not empatic to cops in the past. When I was witness of the arrest, it was during my period of social activisminto migration issue, in Greece, and I was not cops friendly during that period. Cops were checking people's ID easily, everywhere.
I remember than I have stopped to watch the arrest of 2 people sitting on a bench, tu be sure that no aggression happened to the 2 people arrested. When I remember that moment, I can still feel the sadness than I felt at that moment, the anxiety and the feeling of my chest getting like closed. I was preocupated for them, and to be sure that cops would be respectful I staied to watch.
When I think about the arrest of a white person, I can feel less empathy. It is probably because my experience with people from migration and the knowledge that I have concerning the situation in their native countries, the journey to come and all the difficult situations that they have to faced to be in Europ. However, I remember that it was not pleasante to watch cops arresting that people, they were coming from a demonstration. I feel sadness when I see cops putting chains to people, and talking to them in a bad way, unrespectful with superiority.
I have never witnessed a black body being arrested. In fact, the only time I have ever seen anyone get arrested is at the motorcycle rally in Sturgis. And honestly, I don't know what their race was. They appeared to be in a biker gang. I don't recall my reaction in my body, although I am sure it was something along the lines of fear, because I am afraid of being in trouble, so putting myself in people's shoes and temporarily feeling what it would be like to be in that kind of trouble is uncomfortable.
Q. Complete the body practice on pg. 125. In addition to imagining an arrest that you witnessed, examine the experiences you have witnessed of incarceration. (This is at the end of Chapter 8)
I have witnessed, mostly driving by, plenty of people who have gotten pulled over and ended up in cuffs. The truth of it is, I know I have no idea what is happening. But I also have never witnessed a police officer or detainee being violent toward anyone during these times. I have witnessed and been a part of people getting arrested when I was younger. Mostly white people. We were all traumatized, we were all 'running the streets' and getting into trouble. There was a clear separation between whites and blacks here in Delaware when we were committing our crimes, but there was also a comradery as well. Too small of a state for us to all keep hating each other. Then there is inner city Wilmington. The highest crime in our entire state. Predominantly black bodies. We still all got to go to school together because of the bussing system though. We all found each other somehow, with all of our pain. I haven't seen anyone arrested in over ten years now.
Q. Complete the body practice on pg. 125. In addition to imagining an arrest that you witnessed, examine the experiences you have witnessed of incarceration. (This is at the end of Chapter 8)
The last time I witnessed an arrest of a Black and a White body were during the BLM protests following the murder of George Floyd. I volunteered as a legal observer at multiple protests and witnessed many arrests. Many of them were extremely violent. I felt helpless because I could not intervene, sick to my stomach because the individuals arrested were peaceful protesters, and revolted by law enforcement who were clearly enjoying throwing their weight around and arresting people just because they could. I did not notice a difference in my reaction to seeing Black and White bodies arrested. I think because this was such a unique, unified experience of people coming together from all races that the race of the arrestee was less significant, for lack of a better word, than it would have been had I witnessed unrelated arrests at separate times during discrete incidents.
I don't even know where to start addressing my experiences of incarceration. The question is so broad. I have represented criminal defendants since 2003. I have been to so many prisons and jails. I have seen men who were stripped of their individual identity, bullied, humiliated, sexually assaulted, physically attacked. I don't know how to break down all my experiences and feelings in responding to such a broad question.
A time I saw a black body arrested was when I was visiting my husband who was incarcerated at the time. The man was an inmate who was taken out of visit, it was never super clear to me what triggered him needing to be removed from the visit room but the treatment in how they physically arrested him was absolutely unfair. I remember a lot of physical force and aggressive tones being used when he was compliant, he literally gave no push back. I remember feeling physically uncomfortable at how they were treating him and the need to keep reminding myself in my head I absolutely could not say anything no matter how bad I wanted too because that would make the situation worse.
I've worked in probation services since 1997. I've seen many arrests of black men and women. I've also seen many whites arrested. I only became more attuned with my body over the past several years. When I did the exercise on page 125, I could relive the experiences more mindfully. As to the arrest of blacks, I felt tension in my gut, heart and head. I also felt tightness in most of my body and an uneasiness. In the past, I could feel my disassociation with my body during these arrests. It was too much to hold in my body. I've since found techniques to better cope with these difficult events. Back to the arrests. I was very worried about how the law enforcement officer or officers would do the arrest. Would they do it with force? Would they be civil and safe? Would they react from fear? Would they maintain control of their fear? Do they have enough skillful training? In all all my probation experiences, I saw no excessive force or someone being uncooperative. That was not always the same with arrests I saw out in the streets and community. I saw instances there were officers piled on top of someone resisting and using no technique other than brute and excessive force. These were not the majority the arrests I saw in this context, but enough. I felt a bit of anger during those arrests at all the humans caught in the cycle of this madness. I also saw what I did not want to ever do. With whites being arrested in probation related matters, I had similar body feelings of tension but notably less fear because I didn't think the white officers would do any excessive force. There was less fear and tension in the white officers as they made the arrests. I've seen both white and blacks in an incarceration setting. My body was tense in these moments because a jail or prison is feel of sights and sounds. I'm heightened to be ready to use self-defense or to be mindful of what I see and hear. The air inside a jail is so chemically and artificial smelling. There are no windows. No plants. No bright and hopeful colors. The guards, prisoners, staff and visitors are all stressed, fearful and sad. I think about how important it is to treat all these individuals with dignity, respect and civility and to champion ways to make this entire process more compassionate, safe and healing. The physical environment of a jail or prison is itself causing trauma to those already impacted by trauma of their own; both the people incarcerated and the staff that work in such environments. I think we can do much better in the U.S. about this. I see hope in what some Scandinavian countries are doing with their more humane jails and prisons. I am grateful to start awakening to the search for a better way and also to do what I can to action that along the way.
Q. Complete the body practice on pg. 125. In addition to imagining an arrest that you witnessed, examine the experiences you have witnessed of incarceration. (This is at the end of Chapter 8)
I have never witnessed the arrest of a black person. But I have had close experiences of deprivation of liberty. Since my brother faced a criminal process, I understood how unfair the justice system and the penal system are in my country. Opening my senses to that reality allowed me to learn about other similar experiences that people around me went through and that continue to happen. in this country where poverty and youth are criminalized.