Journalist Harry Colbert, Jr. interviews black man Harry Colbert, Jr. on George Floyd killing
By Harry Colbert, Jr. Editor-in-Chief
I was looking for a source to interview who has keen insight into what’s going on with the aftermath of the police killing of handcuffed and unarmed George Floyd … an asphyxiation killing that took nearly eight minutes to execute.
I needed someone who felt the emotions of a black man who could identify with Floyd; someone who has had their own negative — life altering — interactions with police. I needed someone who had been to multiple protests during the week, but also someone who was at the protests and uprisings that preceded — the aftermaths of the police killings of Jamar Clark and Philando Castile.
With the known activity of white supremacists in the area seeking to cause harm and reign terror on black people, black businesses and businesses in traditionally black communities such as North Minneapolis, I needed to talk to a Northsider who could speak about his or her personal experiences of being on guard figuratively and literally as the sounds of gunshots and sirens surrounded them.
I believe I found the perfect source. Journalist Harry Colbert, Jr. reached out for a Q&A with Northside resident and black man, Harry Colbert, Jr.
Journalist Harry Colbert, Jr.: Thank you for taking time to talk to me. How are you doing?
Black man Harry Colbert, Jr.: Wow, you just start off with the tough questions (nervous laughter). That’s a loaded question. To be honest, I don’t know how to answer it because I don’t know how I’m doing. Physically I’m good … I think. But emotionally, mentally, I’m struggling. I’m tired in every sense. I’m trying to take naps in the day because I know I have to be up at night.
JHCJ: When you say “I think” when talking about physically, what do you mean?
BMHCJ: I’ve been out covering protests with hundreds of people and covering press conferences where people … fellow journalists … weren’t concerned about social distancing. It’s not like COVID-19 said, “Oh, y’all protesting, I’ll take the week off.” So I don’t know what’s going on inside my body. When I cough it is simple congestion or is it COVID?
JHCJ: So, you saw the video I presume? The video of George Floyd being detained by police?
BMHCJ: See that’s the journalist in you. What you really wanna say is the video of George Floyd having the life choked out of him at the knee of a sadistic Minneapolis police officer. Yeah, I saw the video. I only watched it once in its entirety. I don’t need to see it again.
JHCJ: What were your thoughts when you saw the video?
BMHCJ: So, I, like most people have seen these type videos over and over again and after each time you’re … if you’re a normal empathetic human being … enraged. This time, yeah, I was enraged, but for me there was this sense of disbelief. I kept waiting for Derick Chauvin (the officer who is responsible for the death of Floyd) the let up. I mean we’re talking about an eight minute video. For eight minutes Mr. Floyd was gasping for air … gasping for life. And Chauvin just sat there and choked that man to death. And the look on his (Chauvin’s) face. Did you see it? It was this look of indifference. He was killing a man who was begging for life … calling on his dead mother … and yet this officer didn’t care; he continued to kill Mr. Floyd.
JHCJ: Let’s talk about the protest and the violence. What are your thoughts?
BMHCJ: Look, the anger is real. The anger was real with Jamar (Clark, killed in 2015 by Minneapolis Police); the anger was real with Philando (Castile, killed in 2016 by a St. Anthony police officer). And the anger is justified. Time and again black people are being brutalized by police and nothing happens. No one is held accountable and nothing changes. Almost every black man in America can tell you a horror story about a police encounter. Yeah, it’s about Mr. Floyd, but it’s about all of us. I know what it’s like to have police guns pointed at me. I know what it feels like to be handcuffed and have the pain and marks of the cuffs remain for days. I, like Freddie Gray (killed by police in Baltimore), know what it’s like to receive a “rough ride” in the back of a police van. Add on to that the fact that all this was done to me over a made up “crime” of disturbing the peace and it enrages me more.
But we have to talk about the other factor of these protests. I’m saying what most legitimate protesters have been saying since the Jamar Clark protests. White supremacists have been mingled in with the real protesters and they have been some of the main ones doing the breaking of windows, burning of buildings. Look at all the Black-owned businesses torched. Look at all the businesses on the Northside that were targeted. The gas station/convenience store just blocks from my home went up in flames. So when the governor says these groups are here it’s doubly scary because they (people within government) almost always dismiss our intel of white suprematists in our midst.
I will never forget being up until 5 a.m. two days in a row — these past two days — one guarding a cluster of businesses and the other simply guarding my home. Each night I’m hearing gunshots going off … lots of them … and you’re trying to pinpoint location. You see these cars with no plates cursing the avenues and you’re on edge. I have to try and nap during the day so I can be awake during the night. I used to love the night. Now I hate it. I fear it.
JHCJ: What do you hope can come of all this?
BMHCJ: Right now, I’m in survival mode. We’re just trying to protect our homes; our businesses … our community. But when we’re able to breathe — funny, that’s all Mr. Floyd wanted to do — but when we can breathe, I’m looking for top-to-bottom reform. I want the people who police our communities to live in our communities. We want police to be prosecuted for their crimes … and we want them convicted. We are tired of these same predators being unleashed on our streets to brutalize and kill again.
And we want resources. Look, they are going to build again and when they do we (black people) want to be at the head of the table when it comes to every aspect of that rebuild. Quit funding everybody but us in the name of supposedly helping us.
JHCJ: A lot of times people use art or rely on the arts to express themselves. Is there a piece of art or a song that sums up your feeling right now?
BMHCJ: You know what? I’ve been listening to all my militant and inspirational music … Public Enemy, X Clan, Kendrick Lamar, Solange’s “Seat at the Table,” but you know the loop that’s stuck in my head? Elton John. Elton John’s “Still Standing.” All this going on and a damn pop song is what’s stuck in my head. Gangster, huh (more nervous laughter)?” But that’s the best I can say right now … I’m still standing.
JHCJ: Thank you for taking time to talk to me. I’m going to end the interview in a way I almost never do. Brother … black man, I love you.
BMHCJ: Thank you brother. I love you too.