Qasim Basir

he could search the car. There I was, hands on the hood, his partner watching with his gun as he searched my car. Turned one of my proudest moments into a deeply painful one. Welcome to driving. My friends and I were stopped relentlessly almost every month all thru high school.

At 17 I was arrested by 10 cops, shut down the block, trained their guns on me. "Put your fucking hands where I can see them!" I was pulled out the car, cuffed with a knee in my back while they found what what they were called about. A bebe gun. Well why'd u have a bb gun? U ask

I used it to shoot one of my first high school short films. Fine, on me, didn't have a permit. But AFTER they found out it was an unloaded bebe gun, the prosecutor decided to charge me, a 17yr old kid, with a felony for carrying a concealed weapon . Mind you, I was graduating..

from high school in days, omw to college, a good student/athlete, homecoming king, but to them I was "black man with gun". Had to fight like hell, mom had to pick up hours at her jobs, had to pay every dime I had saved for a lawyer to ensure I didnt go from high school to prison.

In college I cannot even remember how many Karen's crossed the street or clutched their purse or sped up when I was near or, tap tap tap, tried to hit that elevator before I could get on or on & on & on...

At 21 a cop approached me while in my car in a store parking lot. When asked for my license I questioned if this was even considered a stop. He got aggressive af, hand on gun and all, so I complied. Found out my license was suspended for parking tix, so I was arrested, car towed

Also at 21, trying to recover from the financial burden of that arrest, $500 bail, broke college student, still had to drive to work, I was stopped again, for nothing again (he actually wouldn't tell me), he found out my license was still suspended, I was arrested again.

It'd take another 4 yrs of cops & courts & fines to get from under all that and finally get my license back. I don't even remember all of it, but it was a hell of a time that added to trauma that was yet to be healed. Gonna fast forward over the next few years bc there's a lot...