Was this judge also a lawyer?¹ I had a feeling he wasn’t. I’d heard him before I saw him perched upon the bench — but I’d grown up around hogs, so I knew how people screamed at animals. I leaned against the wall and followed the herd ahead of me. The amounts that I’d overheard given for bail were outrageous — I wondered if I could talk to this guy?

Have you ever been intimated or have had a loved one face a fatal encounter with police?  These encounters seem to be happening more and more likely in Brown and Black communities despite people of color being the least likely to call the cops. They fear the police escalating the situation and fear for the lives of their family. According to “Justice cant wait packet” made by Houston social justice groups along with others. It shows that Black Houstonians makeup, just 23% of the population, but 36% of police stops, 49% of citation- eligible arrests, and 63% of those shot by Houston Police Department. The current metro area population of Houston in 2021 is 6,491,000, a 1.88% increase from 2020.

I’d been charged with felony theft, which I didn’t understand whatsoever at the time. But these hard faces full of hatred inside of the police department, informed me of a more conflicted time ahead of me. I was struggling to remember any working numbers, having now been so dependent upon a cell phone at 19 years old. I was immensely disappointed with myself and before my tears broke through, I realized the truth at hand: I didn’t have any money on me. Truth be told, I didn’t have any money in my checking account.