By Asia Key-Armour
The Seattle Medium
“Nina Simone said the role of an artist is to help us see the world that is; Octavia Butler told us that the role of an artist is to write things into manifestation, that you can see the world as it is but you can write a better world, and Nipsey [Hussle] taught us that we can use our art and our music as a platform to express our life experiences, then within our community begin to transform the way that we live,” said Nikkita Oliver in her keynote presentation at the 2019 Charles V. Johnson Youth and Law Forum.
Oliver, a University of Washington law-educated poet and teacher, quoted these artists and activists to encapture the theme of the 29th annual community forum: Poetic Justice and the Law, Seeking and Speaking Your Truth.
She further articulated that through creative expression, art can be a transformative way in which Black youth can implement change in their own community.
“Art, our culture, and the work that we do as a culture, precedes the way to which the law changes,” Oliver said. “When we dance, when we sing, when we write poems, we actually have the capacity to change people’s hearts in a way that it changes their minds.”
In 1990, King County Superior Court Judges Charles V. Johnson, Ret.; Judge Norma Smith Cannon, Ret.; and Judge LeRoy McCullough set out to change the way that local youth and law enforcement perceived and interacted with one another. In response to intercommunity violence and growing tension between the African American community and the police, particularly associated with the treatment of young African Americans males by police, they created the Youth and Law Forum to help educate youth of their rights when dealing with the criminal justice system and to build bonds in the community.
This year’s program had many workshops for kids ages 8 through 18, as well as parents and adults in the Seattle community. The forum was an educational experience for both the youth and the people involved.
Some of the workshops included It Takes A Village, The Parent Perspective, Drug Use and Abuse, and a Law in Sports forum with Indianapolis Colts player Zaire Franklin.
Following a lunch that was served by the Seattle Police Department Explorers, the youth participated in an art and poetic expression segment where they read poetry and presented their artwork to receive prizes, including a laptop computer.
The Parent Perspective workshop focused on building safe communities with law enforcement. The panel of speakers included facilitator Mario Barnes, Dean of University of Washington’s School of Law, Adrian Diaz, Assistant Chief of the Seattle Police Department, U.S. Marshall Jacob Green, Cynthia Softli, President of the Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington, community organizer Hassan Wardere and Seattle City Attorney Peter Holmes.
During the workshop, parents and adults asked about community engagement programs the police department have implemented. They discussed “relationship versus transaction” as it pertained to police and young people, and the panel spoke candidly about the issues the parents presented to them, and how to further build trust in the community.
Another youth workshop hosted in the Fellowship Hall provided young people with information on different careers in the field of law. Tables for the United Negro College Fund and University of Washington Schools of Law and Social Work served this same purpose. According to Judge McCullough, these vendors were set up to “give young people a vision” of their future if they choose careers in law.
Seattle Police Detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin, who currently serves on the department’s Community Outreach Unit, boasts 40 years on the force as proudly and brightly as her badge shines on the chest pocket of her uniform.
Bouldin, who encourages youth who want to make a difference in their community to pursue their dreams, said she was drawn to law enforcement because she felt the community that she grew up in deserved better from those who were sworn to serve and protect.
Growing up in Chicago, Bouldin said the police would come into her neighborhood, which was predominately Black, to harass men who were just sitting in front of their homes. The officers would make the men get on the ground, whether it was muddy, wet or cold, and make a spectacle of them. She said they would get back in their cars and laugh at the humiliation of these men.
Her personal fortitude, plus the thought of it being one of her own five brothers succumbing to this treatment, made her sure that becoming a member of law enforcement could make a difference.
“In order to change something, sometimes you have to be within the system to make those changes,” Bouldin said.
Bouldin believes her presence and engagement with the youth in the Rainier Beach community have eased their apprehension when approaching law enforcement and encouraged them to pursue careers in law.
“When kids see me, some that I don’t even know, they feel comfortable talking to me,” Bouldin said. “They ask me questions about my job, about how I became an officer. Young girls especially come up to me and tell me they want to be a police officer like me and ask what they have to do.”
According to McCullough, a longtime member of First A.M.E. Church, his faith informs the work he does with this program. He said it has transformed his perception of humanity and made him a fairer member of the justice system.
“The faith I follow values all human beings,” McCullough claimed. “[It is] a faith of liberation. It does not celebrate slavery, it does not celebrate oppression. It celebrates freedom. When you [have this perception], you’ll understand that you don’t have the right to take a person’s life. You don’t have a right to take a person’s liberty. You don’t have the right to treat a person badly because they look differently than you or live some place that you don’t live.”
His colleague, Superior Court Judge John McHale, said that he has learned a lot from the youth who attend the forum. He believes it is key to build trust between youth and law enforcement because of the misconceptions each group holds against one another.
“There is just a lot of distrust and disconnect to begin with,” McHale said. “[Because of] what you see in the news and social media, you often see it as an ‘us against them’ mentality. That can be race-related and it could be age-related. For people from different communities to get together and interact, to know and work with each other so we can trust each other, is critically important.”
Bouldin added that seeing the youth in the element this year’s forum provided, where they could be articulate in debates, perform poetry and make art, is a way to break down the negative biases some officers carry.
Judge McCullough agreed and said that creative expression can aid young people by providing a positive outlet for their inner turmoil. He said that when troubled youth don’t know how to express themselves, their concerns, depression and anger can build an immense pressure within them and cause them to lash out.
“That means when a small slight occurs, there’s an [emotional] explosion,” McCullough explained. “If you give young people an opportunity to paint, to draw, to dance, whatever it is they use to define themselves and to express themselves, there is a lesser chance that a child will choose negative ways to deal with his or her anger, angst or anxiety. That’s why we wanted to make [artistic expression the theme this year].”
“Find your voice, find a way to say what you need to say, and you will be healthier as a result.”
