Thursday, July 7, 2016, five officers were killed and seven more wounded by sniper fire at a protest in downtown Dallas. The Dallas Chief of Police said the desire to kill white people was the apparent motive behind the shooting. Fox News reports, “The protest was one of several around the country, prompted by police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.” [retrieved via http://nation.foxnews.com/2016/07/07/5-dallas-police-officers-killed-6-more-wounded-protest-shooting-one-suspected-gunman-dies].
The U.S. is waking up, post the Dallas shooting that targeted white police officers, with a crisis of humanity on its hands. How the nation comes together to mourn all of the victims of this tragedy and the bigger tragedy at large, the racial unrest that sparked the incident, is yet to be determined. It requires an examination of the peaks and valleys of humanity in the aftermath of the Dallas shooting and a strong will to move forward with peaceful resignation.
In February of 2016, I had the unique opportunity to sit down with Darren Kavinoky and well known civil rights attorney John Phillips who represented the family of Jordan Davis (see John Phillips featured on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine with the Jordan Davis family here).
Black Lives Matter vs All Lives Matter
Darren and I asked John Phillips to share his story with us. He opens up on his insight on race relations in America from OJ Simpson to Trayvon Martin to Jordan Davis. He discusses the controversy over Black Lives Matter vs All Lives Matter. And John Phillips talks about the bullet proof sports coat he now owns because of his profession as a civil rights attorney.
John Phillips was featured in the movie “Three and a Half Minutes” which won an award at Sundance. Dedicated to the advancement of civil rights and protecting the innocent, he expresses the profound effect meeting the family of Jordan Davis has had on his life.
“Everything Was White” Attorney John Phillips on Jordan Davis and Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter
John Phillips explains the growing controversy over Black Lives Matter saying, “Yeah, all lives do matter, but all lives haven’t been marginalized. All lives haven’t been victims of institutional racism. All lives aren’t stuck in a welfare system that you’re not able to pay for child care and have a full time job at the same time. Black lives have been stuck there. All lives don’t have a history of being owned in this country and Jim Crow or even after slavery was illegal they’ll lock you up and have you do the exact same thing under the guise of authority. So it’s the sensitivity of a population wanting to be understood.”
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Darren is an accomplished TV personality, attorney, interventionist, keynote speaker, and 'misbehavior expert' who appears constantly on countless TV and radio shows.