‘Stop’ What You’re Doing

By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer Most Black men today have had some sort of interaction with law enforcement and police-involved shootings continue to make local and national headlines. The American Psychiatric Association acknowledges that African American males who are racially profiled and perceived by law enforcement to be wrongdoers are at increased risk of developing anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.& The OBSERVER included questions about interaction with law enforcement in our “Where’s Your Head At?” questionnaire on Black men and mental health and well-being.& The questions we posed to questionnaire participants on the topic were “Have you ever had negative interaction with law enforcement?” “If yes, what happened?” “Did that interaction leave you with physical or emotional scars?” “How did you heal?” and “Have you healed?” D. Mack Here are a few of the responses: I was told by an officer that the car I was driving “could not” have been mine. — Theodore Hayes, 72 & “Ever” and “negative” are relative words. I’ve never been physically abused by law enforcement but I have been stopped and detained. — DeAngelo Mack, 44 I got pulled over four times in one week while doing nothing wrong. It just...