Jesse Williams is one of few entertainers lending their voice to speak about Michael Brown’s shooting by police and the aftermath of the teen’s brutal killing, in Ferguson, Missouri. But the “Grey’s Anatomy” star has been using his Hollywood platform — and seven year’s experience as a public school educator before ever hitting your TV screen — to school America, as he’s done in the past.
The actor wore a hoodie for an appearance appeared on CNN to discuss Michael Brown’s death and the events in Ferguson, but after all the amazing things he said, some could only focus on his attire. When the actor addressed one critic who said the hoodie made it hard to take him seriously, one Twitter follower stepped in and taught the most amazing lesson!
It all started with Williams’ on-air appearance where he made powerful statements about media coverage and criticisms of Brown, who was brutally shot six times by Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson:
“We need journalism to kick in and start reporting the story from the beginning,” Williams said on the Sunday broadcast. “This is about finding justice for a kid that was shot. An 18-year-old that was shot. Period. And this idea that because he stole a handful of cheap cigars, that were what, five bucks from a convenient store? I lived in the white suburbs of this country for a long time, I know plenty of white kids that steal stuff from the convenient store.
This idea that every time a Black person does something, they automatically become a ‘thug worthy of their own death?’ We don’t own drug crimes. We’re not the only ones that ‘sell and do drugs all the time,’ we’re not the only ones who steal, we’re not the only ones who talk crazy to cops. There’s a complete double standard and a complete different experience that a certain element of this country has the privilege of being treated as human beings. And the rest of us are not being treated like human beings. Period. And that needs to be discussed, that is the story…we’re not making this up.”
Now even though the fine actor and former teacher had already given America this much-needed “mic-drop” moment on national TV, he continued the discussion on his personal Twitter handle where Tweeter “Lost In Paradise,” slid into his mentions without raising his hand:
Of course, the focus on the hoodie missed the entire point. Though Williams’ statement — even with the clothing choice — did not go unnoticed by many who watched him speak. The actor himself quickly brushed off the criticism before returning to the discussion at hand:
Williams’ response got nearly 400 retweets and the critics’ Twitter mentions were quickly in shambles as some onlookers labeled him “racist.” The ordeal left the Tweeter stunned:
By this time the actor had moved on to Tweet to nearly 700,000 of his actual followers who were focused on the his insightful commentary, but one of his followers wasn’t going to let the hoodie diss go so easily…
Keep clicking to see the powerful exchange that resulted in the actor’s critic learning a huge lesson!
Wow! Did you see that turnaround coming?
I reached out to the Tweeter, @unSENSEcered, on my own personal handle (@Nakisha) to tell her how powerful I thought her words were and she replied, “I did it from the heart.” Adding, “He didn’t seem negative, just misguided and somewhat naive about Jessie’s whole point. Knowledge gets you further than anger….had I just met him with the aggression everyone else did, there’s no change. How many lives can he affect? We have to realize that not everyone that doesn’t look like us, speaks out of hate. Sometimes they genuinely just have no clue.”
This conversation is a true testament to the power of words, shared experiences, and yes, even social media! Jesse Williams used his TV access, his follower used Twitter and we can ALL use the different tools and platforms we have available to us, along with our unique perspectives, to shine light!
Each one teach one.
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