Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Hi, I'm Candis Messam and I'm a mother of five children. I have three boys and two girls. When I saw the video of George Floyd's death it saddened me. It made me lose hope in humanity a bit. My name is Jason Quammie and I have three kids. Two girls and one boy. The past couple of days have been an emotional roller coaster. Just trying to make sense of what's happening. I'm at a loss for words. I just feel so much weight on my heart. And it's just painful to see another black life lost and not think to myself wow, that could have been me. My name is Melanie Carrington. I have one 12-year-old son and his name is Aiden. I was heartbroken and fearful. This is not new. This is just newsworthy. And it's exhausting. I'm scared, I'm upset. [Candis] To see my children crying for somebody that they didn't even know and the injustice that's going on. It breaks my heart. [Jason] It's hard. I don't want to take their innocence away and kind of grow them up too fast. But at the same time I think they need to be aware of what's happening in the world. My son has seen a lot about what happened and for the first time as a preteen he's starting to ask me, "What if?" "What if that's me?" And I don't have answers for that except to say that he's always loved. If anybody would ever call the police on them that would be my biggest fear. Them being shot. Being targeted by police. [Jason] When I was growing up whenever I'd be leaving to go out with friends my dad would always say to me "If you get pulled over by the police make sure to keep your hands on the wheel. Respond, "Yes, officer" "Thank you, officer." "OK, officer." Be super polite." And I didn't realize then that it was because my parents wanted me to come home alive. And now becoming a parent I feel the same fears for my kids. Can they just come home alive. My sphere for my son has lived through each opportunity speaking with teachers, principals, parents. Each need to remind him about what he needs to say to police. When, not if, he's stopped. Because I'm raising black children I don't let them roam around freely. If they have to go to school, I drop them to school. I wait for them after school and bring them back. The school is only three blocks away. I'll teach them to be aware of their surroundings. To be aware of the dangers that they'll face because of the colour of their skin. And the real-life consequences that come with it. When my son started walking home from school by himself we created a script. Something that he could commit to memory to be able to talk to police. "My name is Aiden." He tells them his age. "I am 12-years-old." He tells them where he goes to school. He tells them what he is doing. I just want my kid to grow up to be old.
A2 US police jason aiden officer son aware Parents face difficult conversations with children after George Floyd's death 10 0 Seina posted on 2020/06/08 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary