
Mahari Bailey
For many of us in the AA community, especially black men - DWB is a fact of life. We call it "Driving While Black", or "Driving While Black or Brown" since this phenomena also affects Latinos and "Arab or Muslim looking" Americans.
This week in Philadelphia, "The City of Brotherly Love", a brother stood vindicated at a press conference.
Frisk management: Controversial cop procedure gets revamped
AFTER BEING stopped by police several times for no reason, Mahari Bailey felt compelled to stand up, not only for himself but for others who have been wrongfully "stopped and frisked."
Bailey, 27, an African-American commercial real-estate lawyer from Wynnefield and a graduate of Georgetown Law School, was lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit charging that minorities were targeted and that stops were often without probable cause or reasonable suspicion.
"Lots of people know it's wrong, but they don't know how to articulate the problem," Bailey said. "The fact that I was in a position to do something, I felt obligated to do something."
Yesterday, he stood beside Mayor Nutter and other city officials to announce a settlement in the federal lawsuit filed in November over the "stop and frisk" policy. The mayor also signed two executive orders that will change the way the Police Department conducts investigative stops.
"Today is a good day for everybody in Philadelphia, not just African-American males," Bailey said. "Being proactive is very important."
The back story.
Attorney says he's been pulled over 4 times for no reason
From any angle, Mahari Bailey is a success.
He has worked long hours as a lawyer specializing in commercial real estate since 2007, the year he graduated from Georgetown Law School.
He grew up in Wynnefield, is married and has a 14-month-old daughter. His cell phone is never out of reach in case his wife calls. Their second baby is due in two weeks.
Bailey, 27, used to drive a white Infiniti M45, but now slips behind the wheel of his white Range Rover. And he's always impeccably groomed, whether he sports a gray suit and starched, white shirt or a T-shirt and jeans.
For those who like to argue that this is only a "class" issue, it is important to note the above - Bailey doesn't drive a raggedy car, nor is he dressed in a hoodie.
Bailey was "sick and tired, of being sick and tired" (quote made famous by Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer) and decided to take action. He became one of eight plaintiffs in a class action suit filed against the city of Philadelphia.
In September 2008, the suit alleges, police pulled Bailey over for no reason on 64th Street near Haverford Avenue in West Philadelphia and asked if he had drugs or guns in his car. He told the officers that he was a lawyer, that there was no contraband in his car and that he had filed a complaint about an earlier unlawful stop by Philadelphia officers, the suit says. He was released and no criminal charges were filed against him. The following August, Bailey and some friends were standing near 53rd and Euclid streets in Wynnefield when officers, without cause or justification, the suit says, ordered Bailey and his friends to stand against a wall to be searched.
When Bailey told the officers that he was a lawyer and refused to consent to a search, one officer "raised his fists in a threatening manner," and told Bailey that he didn't "give a f--- who you are," the lawsuit says. Bailey was again released with no criminal charges being filed against him.
In May, Bailey was pulled over at 59th and Master streets in West Philadelphia. When Bailey asked why he had been stopped, one of the officers told him to "shut up" and that he "was in the wrong neighborhood," according to the suit. When Bailey protested about being repeatedly stopped for no reason, the officers told him that the tinted windows in his car were illegal, the suit says. He said he told them that his model car came with those windows and that they were not illegal. The officers issued a ticket "on the false and pretextual charge of a tinted-windows violation in retaliation for his verbal protest," the suit says. The charge was dismissed in Traffic Court.
This phenomena is not simply a quirk in Philly. For as long as I can remember being in a car, there were areas that we knew were really unsafe to be driving through. Used to be Prince George's County Maryland...or the New Jersey Turnpike.
The ACLU issued this report in California - back in 2002:
California DWB (Driving While Black or Brown) Report
Racial profiling by law enforcement has long plagued communities of color, yet until recently was virtually ignored by the media, courts and public officials. In the past few years, the issue seized the attention of the public as never before, due in no small part to the data first released in New Jersey and Maryland proving what communities of color have always known to be true: Police routinely target people of color at grossly disproportionate rates for humiliating and often frightening detentions, interrogations and searches based not on any evidence of criminal activity, but rather on the color of one’s skin. The data from Maryland showed that although African Americans comprised approximately 17% of the motorists on the road, they accounted for more than 70% of the drivers who were stopped and searched.
Contrary to popular belief, people of color were no more likely than whites to be carrying drugs or other contraband in their vehicles. This data rendered incredible law enforcement’s insistence that racial profiling was a figment of the collective imagination of people of color, and catalyzed vibrant reform movements across the country, including in California. This report tells the story of the struggle to bring an end to racial profiling in California. It provides an overview of the issue and includes the political battles, litigation, voluntary data collection efforts, protests, grassroots organizing campaigns, and Governor Gray Davis’s adamant refusal to support legislation implementing meaningful reform. Most importantly, this report tells the stories of the victims of racial profiling – men, women, and children who have found themselves by the side of the road, detained, interrogated and often searched by the police because of the color of their skin. We thank these courageous individuals for their willingness to share their stories publicly, overcoming their understandable skepticism that their stories can make a difference when the stories of so many others have been ignored. And we thank them for their willingness to come forward, despite their fear of retaliation by the police. It is because of the courage, self-sacrifice, and perseverance of so many victims, like those whose stories are told here, that we have reason to hope that this dreadful chapter in our nation’s history will ultimately come to a close.
We also thank the contributors to this report and all those who have stood firmly on the side of those who are often least likely to be believed or truly heard in our criminal justice system – people of color who often lack access to the privilege and resources that make it possible to challenge the violation of one’s basic civil rights.
Privilege.
Yes - Mahari Bailey did have some privilege - since he is an upper middle class attorney. But that didn't stop him from being harassed, stopped, searched...and we know that random stops can lead to getting killed while unarmed.
It did give him weapons to fight back, for himself and others.
Seven of the eight plaintiffs in the case - all black and Latino men, represented by the law firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg - will receive a total of $115,000 as part of the settlement. State Rep. Jewell Williams, a plaintiff who won the May Democratic primary for sheriff, will not receive any money.
If you do a search of the Urban Dictionary you will find other acronyms familiar to those of us who have to live with our lack of civil liberties.
"WWB" - Walking While Black is one of them.
Another is "FWB" Flying While Brown", something I have to deal with every time I get on the line in an airport.
It happened to me on the way to and from Netroots Nation - since I frequently wear a headwrap.
So while we celebrate other legal victories like last night's gay marriage victory in New York ....remember this: black and brown gay men are still likely to get stopped and frisked on the way to a wedding.
Racial profiling is still alive and well in The Big Apple.
The struggle continues.