Why I Protest: How Tamir Rice’s Death Drew Kareem Henton To Activism

Soon after Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a Cleveland police officer, Kareem Henton attended a “listening tour” hosted by Cleveland city councilman Matt Zone.

“I wanted to be heard, and I wanted perspectives to be heard, and I wanted to see if I could get commitment out of them to do something tangible,” says the co-founder of the Cleveland chapter of Black Lives Matter. “Of course we got nothing, but that just infuriated me even more because there were things that city council could have done regarding the officers. So, that was my first moment, and I just knew that I had to stay out here.”

Since then, Henton and his fellow activists have committed themselves to pushing for policy change — such as increased police accountability, better funding of local school districts and more equitable hiring practices within local police departments — by lobbying local and regional politicians. The group also provides grief counseling and advice on courses of action for victims of police brutality and their families. It is also actively working with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association to “dismantle” elements of the Cleveland Police Union’s collective bargaining agreement that allow police officers who have committed acts of brutality to be reinstated, compensated and employed.

Here, Henton fills us in on why there is a new wave of activism in Cleveland and why he stays inspired to protest the system. 

What got me into activism was the death of Tamir Rice as well as the 137 shots incident. I was really frustrated because, you know, I felt like I saw things, and had a perspective that I was not hearing being relayed. When Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams were killed, so many of the public comments were, “They shouldn’t have ran.” I found that so problematic because they didn’t run. There was one person driving that car, and I’m not saying he deserved to die, but Malissa was a passenger. If there was a white person in that car or two white people, I honestly believe they would have done their due diligence to ascertain whether or not that passenger was being held against their will and attempted some kind of hostage negotiation before unloading those 137 bullets into that car. That compelled me to get off the couch, go to public meetings, and so forth, and that developed into relationships with other activists and with the national Black Lives Matter organization.

[The police officers and the leaders] want to have a rally and give people feel good moments and policies that look good on paper. You know we just had a young man, Desmond Franklin, that was murdered in Cleveland on April 9. What we do know is that an off-duty cop killed a man. That’s a fact. But the way things were done in regards to his case shows us that it’s business as usual around here, with the [Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association] president making statements calling them criminals before there is a conclusive investigation. Those statements also taint a possible jury.  

It’s about taking action. You can show me better than you can tell me. All [local leaders] are showing me is that they value property over people, occupation over residents. 

Most of the demands that the members of our organization are making, with regard to the city, centers around accountability. Mayor [Frank Jackson] says his hands are tied. He laments the fact that he can’t fire an officer that he would want to fire because of the collective bargaining agreement and that the binding arbitration rulings will give these officers their jobs back. But what they don’t understand that we understand is that that contract is renegotiated every year. So why are they settling for those types of terms? That’s why we were able to team up with and get a commitment from the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Under their current president Ian Friedman, we were able to secure commitment from them to work on the police union’s collective bargaining agreement. In doing so, we’re able to attack and address what it is that’s allowing law enforcement to circumvent accountability. Many of the policies that they’re currently working on with the Monitor Team and the Cleveland Community Police Division, much of that looks good on paper, but when you have a lack of a willingness to enforce, which comes from the culture, and a lack of ability to enforce, which comes from the collective bargaining agreement and binding arbitration, it ties the hands of anybody really trying to hold these officers accountable. 

Among my friends, we’ve dubbed this moment the Black Spring, rather than the Arab Spring. This strikes a nerve. George Floyd died of positional asphyxiation. Tanisha Anderson also died of positional asphyxiation right here in Cleveland. It rings a familiar chord. People are frustrated, and they say, “You know what, you didn’t understand any of the other messages I sent you, so I’m going to speak in a language you understand.” And that’s what you saw [on Saturday], people venting and acting out their frustration.

In the ’60s, a number of riots across the country, including here in Cleveland, led to the Kerner Commission. Because we’re up under the Trump Administration, you’ll never get a repeat of that, but you will get folks on the state level, like Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who says that he’s going to start this group that is going to analyze the health, economic disparities and criminal justice issues that are leading to the frustrations of people of color. So there’s no way you can tell me it’s not being heard. 

Why on earth would we sit back and give government and law enforcement the thumbs up to continue business as usual? It’s when they’re uncomfortable that they take action.