Abigail Armenta
Mr. Warren
Honors World Lit. Period 1
7 February 2017
Person of the Year 2016
Jesse Williams
It was an ordinary Tuesday night in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was in the parking lot of the Triple S Food Mart selling CDs, as he had for years. He was a respectable man, never did any harm to the community. The owner of this food mart, Abdullah Muflah sat on a beer cooler inside before witnessing his friend get killed by the police.
Alton was confronted by two officers after they received a 911 call about a man threatening someone with a gun. There seemed to be no issues between Alton and the officers. It wasn’t until they tasered and tackled him.
“I swear to God if you fucking move!” one of the officers yelled, pointing his gun at Alton’s chest.
Alton was carrying a gun, however, never in that moment did he reach for it or pose a threat with it. He was shot twice in the chest and then shot four more times.
Alton Sterling’s death was only one of many in the black community. On July 6 Philando Castile was shot by police in St. Paul, Minnesota. On September 20 Keith Lamont Scott was shot by a police officer in North Carolina.
As more African-American people are getting assaulted or even killed, the more tension and worry arises nationwide. A country that believes “all men are created equal” yet without a doubt demonstrates hate crime and racial injustice?
When one uses the term “black lives matter,” it seems almost hypocritical and racist itself. It is true that all lives matter. However, how often is it that a white man gets the same unequal treatment as a man of color?
The world remains blinded by the dark reality. The evident flaws are covered in order to give the illusion of a perfect country. Most are in denial of the situations occurring while others seek for change in the horrid society. The only way to make this point clear is by speaking out. And that’s exactly actor Jesse Williams did one night at the BET Awards, making him 2016’s Person of the Year.
Jesse Wesley Williams was born August 5, 1981 in Chicago, Illinois. Williams graduated from Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island in 1998. He attended Temple University where he majored in African-American studies and Film and Media Arts. Williams married his wife Aryn Drake-Lee in 2012 and have two children, according to the article “Jesse Williams Biography” in articlebio.com.
Williams is a well known actor. His acting career began in 2005 in New York Actors Showcase and since then the door to acting opened for him (articlebio.com). Williams can be seen in television series such as Law and Order and Beyond the Break, yet is “best known for his performance in the character of Dr. Jackson Avery on the television series Grey’s Anatomy.” Some of his feature credits include “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and “The Cabin in the Woods.”
Aside acting, Williams is active in fighting for racial justice. He is a member in the board of directors at The Advancement Project. The Advancement Project is a multi-racial civil rights organization. According to the Jesse Williams page on The Advancement Project website. Williams established his own production company, farWord Inc., with a purpose “to examine and affect the relationship between historical/cultural comprehension and the ways in which media content influences our [collective and individual] health and behavior.” Williams is also an executive producer of Question Bridge: Black Males. It is designed to represent and redefine black male identity in America (theadvancementproject.org). He has been a consistent presence in the Black Lives Matter movement since its beginning.
Jesse Williams is often viewed as another Harry Belafonte. Belfonte is an artist and social activist. Besides being the face of civil rights activism or the channel between Martin Luther King Jr. and the Kennedy Brothers, he was also a private financer, as discussed in the article in The Washington Post titled “Outspoken about Ferguson, Jesse Williams may be this generation’s Harry Belafonte” by Soraya Nadia McDonald. Like Belfonte, Williams has emerged as the popular figure to voice the younger rather than to stand on polite objections.
Williams was honored with the Humanitarian Award at the 2016 BET Awards. In his acceptance speech, he casted a national spotlight on racism. His politically charged speech targeted police brutality against black people and white appropriation of black culture, as explained by Katie Reilly in the article “Jesse Williams Continues To Speak Out: ‘People Are Out Here Suffering’” in TIME magazine.
Williams spoke passionately about the Black Lives Matter movement and reconstructing equal rights and justice. In the article titled “Watch Jesse Williams’ Powerful BET Awards Speech About Racism” by Melissa Chan in TIME , Chan mentions how Williams evoked the names of black people who have been killed by law enforcement officers: “Yesterday would have been young Tamir Rice’s 14th birthday. So, I don’t want to hear anymore about how far we’ve come when paid public servants can pull a drive-by on a 12-year-old playing alone in a park in broad daylight, killing him on television and then going home to make a sandwich.” Williams continued with mentioning the names of Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and Darrien Hunt.
Williams discussed the struggles and violence black people faced throughout history: “There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of. There has been no job we haven’t done. There’s no tax they haven’t levied against us.” He also spoke about the exploitation of the black community and criticized society for “extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil－black gold. Ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them.” He compared spending money on brand-name clothing to the days when slaves were branded with their owners’ markings. After the show Williams said in the media room, “ We cannot allow them to extract from the Black Community the best and brightest in particular genre of expression that makes money for white corporations, and then separate us from the rest of people” (Reilly).
Williams’ speech was one of the most memorable speeches in award show history. As stated in the Los Angeles Times article “ Jesse Williams says black lives matter — we break down why his BET speech matters” by Dexter Thomas and Tre’vell Anderson, “ Jesse Williams delivered one of the wokest award acceptance speeches in recent memory.” The speech received a standing ovation and Williams received praise over Twitter and social media. He presented in a clear manner some of the conversation of social justice today (Thomas, Anderson).
Jesse Williams has become a large contributor in civil rights and social justice. His fight for racial justice shines light of hope for an improved society. It is often hard to face reality, and the reality is that racism still exists. In the 21st century white supremacy is still a factor contributing to the violence and hatred across the country. People like Jesse Williams, who speak out for those unheard, create change instead of waiting for it to happen. As Williams concluded in his speech, “The thing is, though, the thing is, that just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real. Thank you.”