July 18, 2021

Kyondre Anderson

I live in the peaceful town of Irondequoit, but if I get in my car and drive 5 minutes up the street, I would be on one of the toughest streets in the inner city of Rochester.

Hudson Ave.

I used to go to school on Hudson Avenue, then transferred to Irondequoit High; there are many differences. On Hudson, I saw police cars outside the building and metal detectors as soon as I walked in. There were many sentry guards everywhere.

Now walking into Irondequoit High, I feel very safe as soon as I enter the building. Before Covid-19 there was many entrances I could use, and there was no process of getting checked in or searched.

When peaceful protest turned into more last year, I was with my mom and dad watching it unfold right in front of me on TV, but we were sitting on the couch in our house in front of the fireplace. So, to answer the question: yes, I am okay, but all of Rochester area is not. We are in a time of need.

I was blessed with a two-parent household, both with great jobs and many other things that have made life good. But I have cousins that I am with every weekend who can’t say the same. We are not okay because in my neighborhood I can hear the birds every day, but I have a cousin who lives on Clinton Ave and his next-door neighbor is the police station.

We are not okay because my cousin tells me that somedays he can’t get into his home because it's blocked off with yellow tape. I live eight minutes from him and never seen yellow tape.

We are not okay because we have some people take this precious thing called life for granted while we have other people like Daniel Prude who are laying under six feet of dirt. He did not wake up with the expectation that he would be going through a life-ending event.

We are not okay because police following their protocol could end up with another individual seriously hurt or worse yet dead. Those police officers could have put their training to the side and showed their humanity.

We are not okay that we had people such as the Rochester Chief of police, mayor, and other individuals with a lot of power cover this incident up, leaving a family to be devastated and mourning without answers for months.

We are not okay, because when people try to show their anger, pain, frustration, and confusion through peaceful protest, walks and public gatherings, there are police with rubber bullets and military gear posted up like the people are a huge threat.

I am not shocked, but I am scared that this happened in my city of Rochester. This could be anyone’s city. We need police to be trained more or have their protocols changed some. Teachers must go through years of college to be able to do that profession so I think police officer should too.

They should be taught to know when protocols go out the window and need to act as if that was their brother on the ground naked with a bag over his head. Or their nine year old daughter being peppered sprayed and handcuffed. Or their wife holding their three-year-old daughter being pepper-sprayed. There will continue to be problems going on until there is change! We can’t expect a different outcome when things are the same.

Until then we won’t be okay.

As first published in the Democrat and Chronicle and USA Today Network.