I deplore
apathy and I abhor injustice not as a
mere spectator or a finger pointer but
as a challenger as a contender as an
opponent when I see a good fight I get
in it I’ve always been that way however
over the years when adverse situations
arise
I’ve had to learn that you don’t always
have to meet force with force in order
to get your point across and that it’s
better times to meet force with finesse
and intelligence water doesn’t have to
slam up against the rock to understand
that it is just as powerful as a rock
when the right pressure is applied
persistently and over time water can
break down and even destroy a rock in
April of 2015 the right pressure was
applied by the citizens in Baltimore the
city that I love and work was taken by
storm by violence as a result of the
death of Freddie gray
and Freddie gray didn’t die in ordinary
death he died from severe injuries while
in police custody and the circumstances
surrounding his death sent our city into
turmoil protesters took to the streets
for two weeks from April 18th of 2015
through May 3rd of 2015 and I distinctly
remember working late in my office as
protesters filled the streets right
outside of my building they had blocked
all the main veins and arteries of
into and out of the city it was almost
as if the city of Baltimore was having a
massive heart attack in a stroke at the
same time when I made it home that
evening lying in bed catching up with
the news I had time to reflect upon this
dark emotional cloud that enveloped our
city and I remember thinking to myself
this is wrong I remember that when the
city was going through this and I
remember watching the protesters and the
protestors were one of the main things
that caught my attention I continued to
watch the news and a couple of the
protesters or even a few they began to
lose sight of while they were out there
protesting they began to engage in
conduct that was counterproductive to
the movement and at the rate they were
going I knew that a clash with police
would be imminent
I knew that arrests would be certain and
that legal representation would be
imperative I also understood the pain
the hurt and the suffering by those who
lawfully protested as well as those who
participated in the unrest I understood
that but watching them as they expressed
their anguish and as they express their
issues with regard to the practices and
policies that basically denied them
their fundamental rights and suppressed
their humanity it ignited a charge of me
I wanted to do something I wanted to
help and so the very next day I went on
Facebook to express how I was felt about
situation and in my mind the thing that
I had to offer was my legal services so
I decided to do that I wrote a post and
I said that anyone who was arrested for
protesting you contact me and I will
represent you for free and I promised
them in this post that I wasn’t going to
judge whether they were wrong or right
and I kept my word because to me it
didn’t matter whether they were wrong or
right
it didn’t matter at all because these
people were standing up for their rights
and that’s what I’m about when people’s
try to stand up for their rights on that
support system so as for me this was a
righteous cause it created an
opportunity for me to offer a hand up to
those who selflessly selflessly laid
their bodies on the line for freedom
justice inequality ladies and gentlemen
this was a good fight
it was the type of fight that I wanted
to get into I wanted to get into this
fight because I stood for the same
things freedom justice inequality this
iconic image of a young man taking a
pile on him wielding it through the
window of an unmarked police car while I
cannot condone his conduct
I can certainly empathize with the anger
and frustration he was feeling because
no one has ever stood up for this young
man no one ever spoke truth to power and
said this is wrong no one ever provided
this young man with guidance or
resources that would change the
trajectory of his life and put him on a
path before he reached this point ladies
and gentlemen this young man he stood
for something as well and although he
may have been
misguided with his presentation his
heart was in the right place because we
all felt it so it didn’t matter to me
whether protestors were protesting and
whether they were guided by certain
principles or whether they were
misguided by unchecked emotions everyone
out there who protested they were out
there for a reason
they all had experience with oppression
and they all had their story to tell and
if you’re offended by this photograph
then why don’t you hashtag it this is
wrong
Frederick Douglass said that it is
easier to raise strong children than it
is to fix broken men
ladies and gentlemen that young man who
wielded that pylon into that police car
became my first Freddie gray protester
after he self surrendered to authorities
and then we have this young man he too
like the first young man was out there
protesting he had a lot on his heart he
became overwhelmed by the moments he too
participated in the unrest and just like
the first young man I couldn’t condone
his behavior but I tell you what I could
do I could defend his right to be
treated fairly and that’s what I did I
treated them fairly and soon after I
found myself in back-to-back trials
defending these two young men and
several others similarly situated and
the charges that were brought against
him were crushing charges they
overcharged him for the level of his
participation in the events and so we
did battle and some of those battles
were epic and some of the
cases that we tried together we found
common ground other cases that we ended
up trying together they turned out to be
frivolous and wasteful events but then
there were a few that the state brought
that he brought to send the message but
we had a message to send to and our
message were we weren’t going to be
bullied we weren’t going to allow our
First Amendment rights to be trampled
and we were going to fight for our
rights whether we were wrong or right it
didn’t even matter I don’t know if you
ladies and gentlemen ever witnessed or
been a product of injustice but in the
event that you are in and I’m talking
about real injustice I’m talking about
the injustice that shakes you to your
core I’m talking about
the injustice that arrests your
conscience and makes you think this is
wrong because if you’ve been in that
place then you understand what it takes
to make things right we live in an age
where we have technology on our hips and
access to the Internet on our fingertips
we’re exposed to the great virtues and
vices of our times we have the ability
to take that technology and use it for
good we have the ability to record audio
that is videotape we can audiotape and
we can document injustice when we see it
we sent the hashtag it this is wrong and
when we do that we capture and we bind
injustice like wild beasts we tag it and
we can put it in a virtual Wildlife
Reserve we have the power to do that if
we just take our time and so when you
take the opportunity
and you see what’s going on in the world
and you wonder what can you do when you
see something wrong well these these are
the things that you can do we live in a
world where things are happening at a
steady pace rate and we tend to be
falling deeper and deeper into this hole
and it’s time that we took control of
our lives and made sure and make sure
that we are equipped to handle these
situations when our men go to Starbucks
to convene with others and they are
mistreated and harassed by the way staff
and local authorities we have to have
the guts to say this is wrong and do
something when our migrant children are
caged in internment camps and separated
from their parents we have to stand up
for them and say this is wrong and do
something when our women are subjugated
and objectified by powerful men we have
to have the courage to confront these
men and say this is wrong and do
something when races spew their hatred
and exhort others to commit wicked acts
we must arrest their conduct and say
this is wrong and do something and when
our seniors have to make the decision as
to whether or not they’re going to put
food on their table or buy medicine or
when our most vulnerable citizens are
being mistreated by those who are
entrusted in their care we have to stand
up for them and say this is wrong and do
something this is wrong the hashtag
should become a movement for the entire
world to see that there is certain
behaviors that we find socially
unacceptable and that we can change the
hearts and minds of men to show them
compassion and empathy rather than
ignorant sand difference and bypassed
tagging this is this is wrong I believe
it it will have a far greater impact in
doing that then cement cinder and steel
walls ever could
ladies and gentlemen history it’s going
to record us for what we do and what we
do not do it is our time to make a mark
on society and by hashtagging when you
see events that you know are not right
you just can’t sit silent and watch it
transpire thoughts and concerns are not
going to change the conditions but there
are things that we can do we can support
righteous causes we can get in good
fights we can make a record of the
events and then we can hashtag them this
is wrong and if we do this then we can
affect we can do something to affect
change and if we do this together will be the change thank you
apathy and I abhor injustice not as a
mere spectator or a finger pointer but
as a challenger as a contender as an
opponent when I see a good fight I get
in it I’ve always been that way however
over the years when adverse situations
arise
I’ve had to learn that you don’t always
have to meet force with force in order
to get your point across and that it’s
better times to meet force with finesse
and intelligence water doesn’t have to
slam up against the rock to understand
that it is just as powerful as a rock
when the right pressure is applied
persistently and over time water can
break down and even destroy a rock in
April of 2015 the right pressure was
applied by the citizens in Baltimore the
city that I love and work was taken by
storm by violence as a result of the
death of Freddie gray
and Freddie gray didn’t die in ordinary
death he died from severe injuries while
in police custody and the circumstances
surrounding his death sent our city into
turmoil protesters took to the streets
for two weeks from April 18th of 2015
through May 3rd of 2015 and I distinctly
remember working late in my office as
protesters filled the streets right
outside of my building they had blocked
all the main veins and arteries of
into and out of the city it was almost
as if the city of Baltimore was having a
massive heart attack in a stroke at the
same time when I made it home that
evening lying in bed catching up with
the news I had time to reflect upon this
dark emotional cloud that enveloped our
city and I remember thinking to myself
this is wrong I remember that when the
city was going through this and I
remember watching the protesters and the
protestors were one of the main things
that caught my attention I continued to
watch the news and a couple of the
protesters or even a few they began to
lose sight of while they were out there
protesting they began to engage in
conduct that was counterproductive to
the movement and at the rate they were
going I knew that a clash with police
would be imminent
I knew that arrests would be certain and
that legal representation would be
imperative I also understood the pain
the hurt and the suffering by those who
lawfully protested as well as those who
participated in the unrest I understood
that but watching them as they expressed
their anguish and as they express their
issues with regard to the practices and
policies that basically denied them
their fundamental rights and suppressed
their humanity it ignited a charge of me
I wanted to do something I wanted to
help and so the very next day I went on
Facebook to express how I was felt about
situation and in my mind the thing that
I had to offer was my legal services so
I decided to do that I wrote a post and
I said that anyone who was arrested for
protesting you contact me and I will
represent you for free and I promised
them in this post that I wasn’t going to
judge whether they were wrong or right
and I kept my word because to me it
didn’t matter whether they were wrong or
right
it didn’t matter at all because these
people were standing up for their rights
and that’s what I’m about when people’s
try to stand up for their rights on that
support system so as for me this was a
righteous cause it created an
opportunity for me to offer a hand up to
those who selflessly selflessly laid
their bodies on the line for freedom
justice inequality ladies and gentlemen
this was a good fight
it was the type of fight that I wanted
to get into I wanted to get into this
fight because I stood for the same
things freedom justice inequality this
iconic image of a young man taking a
pile on him wielding it through the
window of an unmarked police car while I
cannot condone his conduct
I can certainly empathize with the anger
and frustration he was feeling because
no one has ever stood up for this young
man no one ever spoke truth to power and
said this is wrong no one ever provided
this young man with guidance or
resources that would change the
trajectory of his life and put him on a
path before he reached this point ladies
and gentlemen this young man he stood
for something as well and although he
may have been
misguided with his presentation his
heart was in the right place because we
all felt it so it didn’t matter to me
whether protestors were protesting and
whether they were guided by certain
principles or whether they were
misguided by unchecked emotions everyone
out there who protested they were out
there for a reason
they all had experience with oppression
and they all had their story to tell and
if you’re offended by this photograph
then why don’t you hashtag it this is
wrong
Frederick Douglass said that it is
easier to raise strong children than it
is to fix broken men
ladies and gentlemen that young man who
wielded that pylon into that police car
became my first Freddie gray protester
after he self surrendered to authorities
and then we have this young man he too
like the first young man was out there
protesting he had a lot on his heart he
became overwhelmed by the moments he too
participated in the unrest and just like
the first young man I couldn’t condone
his behavior but I tell you what I could
do I could defend his right to be
treated fairly and that’s what I did I
treated them fairly and soon after I
found myself in back-to-back trials
defending these two young men and
several others similarly situated and
the charges that were brought against
him were crushing charges they
overcharged him for the level of his
participation in the events and so we
did battle and some of those battles
were epic and some of the
cases that we tried together we found
common ground other cases that we ended
up trying together they turned out to be
frivolous and wasteful events but then
there were a few that the state brought
that he brought to send the message but
we had a message to send to and our
message were we weren’t going to be
bullied we weren’t going to allow our
First Amendment rights to be trampled
and we were going to fight for our
rights whether we were wrong or right it
didn’t even matter I don’t know if you
ladies and gentlemen ever witnessed or
been a product of injustice but in the
event that you are in and I’m talking
about real injustice I’m talking about
the injustice that shakes you to your
core I’m talking about
the injustice that arrests your
conscience and makes you think this is
wrong because if you’ve been in that
place then you understand what it takes
to make things right we live in an age
where we have technology on our hips and
access to the Internet on our fingertips
we’re exposed to the great virtues and
vices of our times we have the ability
to take that technology and use it for
good we have the ability to record audio
that is videotape we can audiotape and
we can document injustice when we see it
we sent the hashtag it this is wrong and
when we do that we capture and we bind
injustice like wild beasts we tag it and
we can put it in a virtual Wildlife
Reserve we have the power to do that if
we just take our time and so when you
take the opportunity
and you see what’s going on in the world
and you wonder what can you do when you
see something wrong well these these are
the things that you can do we live in a
world where things are happening at a
steady pace rate and we tend to be
falling deeper and deeper into this hole
and it’s time that we took control of
our lives and made sure and make sure
that we are equipped to handle these
situations when our men go to Starbucks
to convene with others and they are
mistreated and harassed by the way staff
and local authorities we have to have
the guts to say this is wrong and do
something when our migrant children are
caged in internment camps and separated
from their parents we have to stand up
for them and say this is wrong and do
something when our women are subjugated
and objectified by powerful men we have
to have the courage to confront these
men and say this is wrong and do
something when races spew their hatred
and exhort others to commit wicked acts
we must arrest their conduct and say
this is wrong and do something and when
our seniors have to make the decision as
to whether or not they’re going to put
food on their table or buy medicine or
when our most vulnerable citizens are
being mistreated by those who are
entrusted in their care we have to stand
up for them and say this is wrong and do
something this is wrong the hashtag
should become a movement for the entire
world to see that there is certain
behaviors that we find socially
unacceptable and that we can change the
hearts and minds of men to show them
compassion and empathy rather than
ignorant sand difference and bypassed
tagging this is this is wrong I believe
it it will have a far greater impact in
doing that then cement cinder and steel
walls ever could
ladies and gentlemen history it’s going
to record us for what we do and what we
do not do it is our time to make a mark
on society and by hashtagging when you
see events that you know are not right
you just can’t sit silent and watch it
transpire thoughts and concerns are not
going to change the conditions but there
are things that we can do we can support
righteous causes we can get in good
fights we can make a record of the
events and then we can hashtag them this
is wrong and if we do this then we can
affect we can do something to affect
change and if we do this together will be the change thank you
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