The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
37 seconds 65m views and a teachable moment
Viral video of 9-year-old Eliah Pierre-Louis hiding from a cop car stirs emotions, draws a tweet and a note from LeBron James
The video has been viewed more than 65 million times since June 11, a number that Stacey Pierre-Louis said astonishes him.
Not only did LeBron James tweet about what he saw, the NBA star and a powerful Black voice in 2020 America sent a note along to Stacey’s 9-year-old son.
“Eliah was ecstatic about the acknowledgment from his favorite player,” he said. “It was really gracious of LeBron to do that.”
By now so many of us have seen the 37-second footage captured by the family’s security camera at their Trumbull home. Eliah is shooting baskets in the driveway when he spots a police cruiser about to pass. He ducks behind the family vehicle for five seconds to make sure he is
not seen by the cop. Convinced he is safe, Eliah resumes his play. He takes a long jumper that rolls in through the hoop, gathers the ball, goes behind his back and completes a cross-over dribble as the video ends.
Not a word was spoken. So many emotions were felt.
“Breaks my Heart,” LeBron tweeted.
“Freaking awful,” Yale basketball coach James Jones answered when I asked him about it. “It’s awful, but I understand why the kid thinks that way. How could you not?”
How could you not? After George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks, and 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, and others through the years and decades and even centuries, how could you not?
Still, Pierre-Louis, who was watching his son shoot hoops from work, gave long pause — two days of internal debate — before he posted the video on Instagram that came with the question: “Why does he feel like he has to hide when he isn’t doing anything wrong?”
After work, he asked his son exactly that.
“Because they killed George Floyd,” Eliah responded.
At my station in life, I look through life’s lens as a white suburban dad. To do otherwise would be a lie, and Stacey’s question sent a chill down my spine. Eliah’s answer? I anticipated it. How could Eliah not think the way he did? How could folks of color everywhere not think this way? How could white folks, if we are watching and listening, if we have a heart and soul yearning for justice, not understand what is being said?
“Since I’ve shared this video, we’ve been overwhelmed with positivity, support and encouraging messages globally,” Stacey said. “Which leads me to believe that there is far more good in this world than there is bad.
“Ultimately, I think this video resonated with so many because it’s a reality check and, sadly, a first-hand look at the experience for many Black and Brown youth around the country and the world. When watching the video of my son playing, and seeing him instinctively hide behind the car, I felt a range of emotion — most of which I could identify immediately — fear, sadness and shock. Some of the emotions I am honestly still working through. As a parent you always want to protect and provide for your children, so it hurt me to see him feel unsafe, even in that quick moment.”
I cannot get Norman Rockwell’s 1964 painting “The Problem We All Live With” out of my head. The one that made the cover of “Look” magazine and became one of the powerful and enduring statements of the civil rights movement. Rockwell did not show the faces of the four
federal marshals escorting Ruby Bridges to her first day of school in New Orleans. He wanted to focus on the little Black girl in her white dress and white bow, carrying her notebooks and ruler, with the ugly “N-word” and splattered tomato behind her on the wall.
Those were the days when three television networks and magazines such as “Look” carried the weight of national opinion. The nation saw Rockwell’s work. The nation felt it.
Five and a half decades later, we live in a much different, more complex world, evolved in some ways, more divided than ever in others. So many cable channels with viewers more interested in affirmation of their beliefs than learning something new. So many platforms to obtain what passes for information.
Still, more than 65 million views. Wow.
If you watch the video, you cannot help but see the same innocence in Eliah as in Ruby.
If you watch the video, you cannot help but feel the same flash of fear they felt that someone may harm them.
There is great power in those 37 seconds from a Trumbull driveway. Stacey calls it a teaching moment. There is the power to help make us better.
“My son is doing well and thinks it’s great that his video has sparked so much love across the country and world,” Stacey said. “Understandably, he had questions as to why his video touched so many people, so I shared a few of the comments from the video with him and had an open dialogue about what they meant and how it relates to what’s going on in today's climate.
“As parents, sometimes the best thing we can do to protect and help our children is to be constructively honest with them
— even for the questions we can’t always answer.”
Black dads and moms still must have The Talk with their sons, encouraging them to go out of their way to be respectful to cops, give no indication that they’ve stolen anything in stores, give no indication on the streets they may have a weapon. It is a conversation beyond unfortunate, it is one to avoid another tragedy.
I see comments all the time online about Black youths dressing like “thugs,” wearing their hoodies like this or that, dressing like this or that, styling their kicks. As if what they’re wearing means it makes them more dangerous. My son plays college basketball. You know how many times I’ve seen him pop out of cars with Black guys? Or walk off outdoor courts with his hoodie covering part of his face, no different than players of color. It has gone through my mind on occasion that there may be someone who thinks he’s a “thug.” A flash of fear goes through my mind for a second. Could you imagine being a mom and dad living with that fear for decades? It blows me away.
The video of Eliah has been on several sites, ones of various ilk. Stacey is correct. The overwhelming number of comments are positive, voicing concern, understanding, hope. I saw nasty ones, too. Some called him a bad parent. Some blasted him for purposely instilling fear of the police in his son. In his initial Instagram post, Stacey made it clear the family streams movies, so Eliah doesn’t see TV news. He made it clear they don’t speak negatively around the house about the police. The fear wasn’t hammered into him at home. The Floyd video isn’t only on TV. It is everywhere. It has engulfed us. Protests around the country have ensued for weeks. It is your
America. It is Eliah’s America. How could he not know about it?
“The feedback I've gotten from some parents online has been along the lines of, ‘How do we help our children feel OK to know that they may be treated unfairly and may be even targeted — not because of their actions but simply because of the way they look?’ ” Stacey said. “I think the power in the video I posted is that many people feel the same way, are asking the same thing and want to find an answer together.”
Pierre-Louis pointed out on Instagram that he lives in an affluent neighborhood with a strong school system. He pointed out Eliah has the opportunity to be whatever he wants, unlike many kids of color who don’t have resources available to them. Stacey stressed to me his family has a positive experience in Trumbull. In no way does he want to make the town the focal point.
This isn’t about Trumbull. This is about growing up Black and fearing the police instead of looking up to them. It is a fear that must end.
“It is our hope,” Stacey PierreLouis said, “that this video can continue to be used as a conduit for conversations that may be uncomfortable yet honest, necessary and constructive. Ultimately, we hope that this helps to continue to bring us together and inspire change for the better.”
The day when security cameras are rolling and Eliah and every 9-year-old who looks like Eliah waves to a passing policeman — not hides from him — is the day we will be as great an America as our president says we are.