John Legend is a firm supporter and advocate of black lives matter. I had an opportunity to have a wonderful conversation with him today where he provided me and our listeners with a great deal of useful information regarding stop and frisk. This information played a large part in me revisiting my thoughts and opinions regarding stop and frisk. As a black man in our community, I have been subjected to stop and frisk on numerous occasions and have had bad experiences with police officers who abuse their power. Upon all of those occasions, I had gone home and complained to my family and/or shared it with breakfast club listeners. I am the son of a retired detective and still had contempt for the law and the officers that carried it out. I was firmly and vocally against stop and frisk… That all changed about a week ago when someone tried to MURDER me in an attempted robbery and carjacking… I was shot at several times with an illegal gun . Thankfully, through the grace of God, I was able to escape with my life and go home to my family. It was as though a ton of bricks fell from the sky and gave me a different perspective on stop and frisk based on my experience. The only thing that I could think is that these streets aren’t safe and that illegal guns need to be removed. I have been on both sides of the equation… A person reduced to being stopped and frisked and a person who’s life was almost taken from him with an illegal gun. I said that stop and frisk could be an option if it could be administered PROPERLY and FAIRLY. Voicing that opinion created a much-needed discussion about the topic. It angered a lot of people and causd a surge of information to rise to the surface… some information that I was not aware of previously… After several conversations within my community with @johnlegend and with my wife, I am not too proud to say that my views on Stop and Frisk have changed.. I spoke too soon..
