Love is a powerful force. Love can heal relationships, mend broken communities, and end wars. And to Howard County resident AJ Ali, love is what is needed to improve police relations with marginalized communities, as expressed in his documentary Walking While Black: L.O.V.E. is the Answer.
Walking While Black: L.O.V.E. is the Answer is an award-winning documentary addressing the importance of community, finding common ground, and, of course, love, when it comes to fixing the relationships Black and other marginalized communities have with police and easing racial tension.
The documentary was directed by Ali, who was dedicated to making it after an encounter with Howard County police in 2012 where, according to his account, he was racially profiled and treated as a threat. Since then, Ali has released the documentary, an accompanying book, and started a movement called “L.O.V.E. Is The Answer”, which is dedicated to healing communities with the practice of L.O.V.E.
“L.O.V.E” in the context of the movement stands for “LEARN about people, OPEN your heart to their needs, VOLUNTEER to be part of the solution in their lives, and EMPOWER others to do the same”.
“I found that in my personal life, and in talking with thousands of other people around the world, that the soft, mushy feeling of love does not have a whole lot of power,” says Ali. “But when you put L.O.V.E into action, there’s no more powerful force in the universe.”
This Tuesday, December 10th there will be a screening of the documentary at Howard County Community College. Ali hopes to reach the local youth of high school and college students with this screening, holding a discussion after the film led by young attendants about what can be done to use the L.O.V.E. principles in ways such as improving police-community relations and increasing empathy.
Screenings of the documentary are common nationwide, with it occurring somewhere across America at least once a week. The film and its companion book have been praised by critics and audiences alike for how they show multiple difficult sides when it comes to police prejudice and brutality, and how it listens to testimonies from all types of people instead of telling a single narrative or focusing on a single perspective. It’s a piece of media intended to get people to reflect, get people talking, and encourage people to take action.
L.O.V.E. Is The Answer as a movement has many ways that people can get involved. There are leadership classes available to be taken on the trylovenow.com website, community events organized by the L.O.V.E. Is The Answer team, intercommunity projects such as the police-community garden project in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, and workshops and webinars to get the word out about the movement and its principles to as many communities as possible.
“We’re pretty active and growing, and we have big, big plans for our work here in Howard County in the coming years,” says Ali. One plan is set to be announced at the screening this Tuesday, involving the movement connecting with two schools, one middle and one elementary, in Howard County. “It’s a long-term plan,” Ali says, “but eventually we want to be a support system as a company, as an organization, as a movement, for all of these schools, as well as other youth-oriented groups in the county.”
In addition to L.O.V.E. Is The Answer, the screening event is being co-sponsored by the African American Community Roundtable (AACR) and the Howard County Office of Human Rights and Equity (OHRE), who all agreed HCC would be a good location to hold the screening in order to connect with young people of the community and to delve into the heart of a nationwide social justice movement that was birthed right here in Howard County.
Doors open for the film screening at 5:30 pm. The event includes a dinner beforehand, screening of the film, and a post-screening solutions-oriented discussion with Ali and other members of the L.O.V.E. Is The Answer team. The event is free, but make sure to reserve a ticket as it is mandatory due to limited seating.
Tickets link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/walking-while-black-love-is-the-answer-film-screening-discussion-tickets-1069320549549
This article was written by freelance reporter Megan Duffy.
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