Larry Dorsey Jr. (8:40)
You Muslim. You believe in Allah? And I was like, nope. And he goes, well, God damn, can a brother get a dollar? And he went through all that trouble, so I had to give him a dollar. But usually you got to impress me because I'm a street performer. You got to juggle. You got to sing, dance. You got to do something to earn your money like everybody else who's working. But I gave him the money. I kept pushing and headed down into the subway. It was one of those nights that I had to work early in the morning. So it was a fast turnaround, so I just wanted to go home and lay down. It was a part of my life where I was working contracted jobs. So it was just back to back to back, working 16 hours a day, barely sleeping, just grinding away. I was off season of school. And, you know, the best way to describe it is the Vladimir Lenin quote, There are decades where weeks happen and there are weeks where decades happen. So there was this sense of so much going on in my life in a short amount of time. So I get onto the subway, get closer to my house, get off of the subway. And as I'm walking towards my house, there was this business white man. He looked like a news reporter. Handsome dude, tall, blue eyes, blonde hair, dressed well. And he's moving fast through one of those tunnels. It's similar to New York how our subways are. There's that long tunnel. You're headed towards the stairs to get to the real world. And he's walking, and he's in a rush. It seems like he's about to have sex for the first time with a woman he always wanted to have sex with. Or he cheated on his wife, and he wants to make it home before she gets suspicious. Something was not right with his speed at this time, because it's like midnight, you know. And so in front of us in the distance is a group of, let's say, eight young kids, Black and Latino kids. When I say kids, I say that loosely because they were in high school, but they were probably athletes. Their build, they were just as big as me and that guy, but you could tell they were young. And they're walking in a way where it's like a British army from back in the day. The line formation. You know, everybody in formation get in line. They weren't intentionally or maliciously blocking the tunnel, but the way they were walking, all of them were lined up so you couldn't pass them if you were walking from behind or in front. Right. You would have to say, excuse me on the. But the white guy moving, he. Maybe he's from New York. Because in California, we have spatial rules. You don't get in someone's personal space, and so he's walking behind them. And I'm taking my time because I know that I don't want to be around that young, rambunctious energy at this time of night. I'm like, oh, leave those kids up there. I don't want to deal with that energy. And so the white guy, he walks up behind one of them, and he grabs them and moves them out the way and keeps walking. Not in a aggressive, disrespectful way either. I mean, it was disrespectful, but it wasn't like, get out of my way. It was more just like, I'm in a rush, please excuse me. Right? But he didn't say please. He didn't say, excuse me. He didn't justify or clarify himself. He just moved the kid out the way and kept moving along, right? And so instantly, the reaction of somebody getting touched from behind in that manner, especially in California, led to violence. And he starts getting his ass whooped. All eight of those kids are just beating him. No hesitation, no conversations, no coordination. It was just, boom, fight. And he's getting beat up to a bloody pulp. For me, I got front row seats. I'm watching the whole thing. Nobody else is there. I'm like, ooh, wow, you know, where's the popcorn? Right? And, you know, I didn't want that guy to get beat up, but I understand why he was getting beat up, getting beat up, you know, And I felt bad for him, but I also was like, ah, you should have not did that. And so he's getting beat up, and all of a sudden, one of the kids pulls out a knife. And at this point, I'm close enough because I was trying to move around them to leave because I was like, I don't want to be a witness to this. I just want to get out of here. See, I grew up where phones were considered a violation of the code of conduct in the streets. So if you pulled out a phone to record when I was growing up, that means you're a snitch and you are working with the feds or something. Like, you're a bad person. You could get hurt too. Now you're involved, right? So I didn't do that. I was just watching, and I'm. Now I'm trying to leave. The kid pulls out a big knife, and right before he's about to swing his arm, I. I don't know what. How it got in my mind, but it was just a reaction. I grabbed his arm with the knife in it, and it was a moment. It was such a tense moment because all of the kids turn and look at me at the same time. I felt like I had an invisible cloak on. And then my invisible cloak was no longer there. And so all the kids look at me, they're like, ooh, right? And they're like, are we gonna fight this guy too? And then the white guy on the floor, all bloody, looks at me like, oh, what? Did that really just happen? There was a rat running by. Even the rat looked at me like, ooh, did that just happen? And so I'm holding the kid's arm, right? And the kid looks at me, and there's such an intense moment. All the eyes on me, everything. They're, like, waiting for me to explain myself before they start fighting Me. And I look at them and I go, hey, you don't want to do that. You already beat his ass. You don't want to go to jail, bruh. You're a young kid. You guys are have your whole lives ahead of you. A lot of my friends are dead or in jail. I don't want to see that happen to y' all. Don't do that. You don't want to do that, little bruh. And they all kind of look at me, and it was just a silence. Everybody, you know, the only thing you can hear is the breathing of the white man. That's it. He's right. Other than that, everything is silenced. And the kid puts the knife away, and they all take off running. But before they did that, they robbed him. And I was like, okay, yeah, rob him, but just don't kill him. Right? You know? And they took off running. And the guy looks at me, and with just tears in his eyes and so much gratitude, he goes, thank you so much. You just saved my life. And I look at him, and it was so immediate. It was like a regurgitation. Vomit. I didn't even expect to do it, but I said, I didn't do that for you. I did that for them. And he looks at me with shock. And I was shocked, too. I was like, oh, did I say that? You know, because I did want to save his life, and I did care about him, and I didn't want him to go through the situation he went through. But really, what was in my heart was seeing the same thing that happened to a lot of my family members and friends happen to those kids. I get home, my adrenaline is through the roof because I just grabbed someone's arm with a knife in it, and I could have got killed, you know, and my dad has raised me. He always says, when you're with your woman or your kids, yeah, you could be a hero. But if you're not in that situation, never be the hero, because the heroes get killed. And so I'm laying in bed, like, wow, I could have died. He could have died. A lot of things could have happened. I have to wake up in two hours for another gig. I get up, I'm robotic. I'm not a morning person. I'm groggy, I'm sluggish. I'm just, oh, I have to go to work, and I have to go all the way back downtown. I'm headed downtown. And this is back pre gentrification San Francisco. So this is when Union Square area with the Macy's with The ice rink and the Christmas tree and everything's really shiny and bright and all these Gucci and Prada and all these big time, and it's really nice, and it's always populated. And, you know, love is in the air and people are walking and families and kids. It's just that good vibe. And at this time, it's not, though it's 4am but it's soon it's gonna be that vibe. I go to my shift. I haven't worked this before. It was the Nike Women's Marathon. And so it was a beautiful event for women's empowerment and so much advocation for reproductive rights and breast cancer and just all this, you know, feminist beautiful. Just what they're believing in, I believed in as well. So I was. Not only was I there making money, I was there for a cause that I was happy about, right? And there was over 20,000 runners, you know what I mean? All ready to go. Women, right? And usually these jobs, when I get them, I'm one of the only black people working them because I have the ability to code switch. I have the ability to be friends with you, no matter your gender, sex, religion, whoever you are. I could be your friend, and I won't judge you. I treat the janitor and the CEO the same. I treat everybody with love and respect. You're a human being. We're both equal on a spiritual level. And so I'm able to navigate spaces that a lot of blacks and Latinos aren't. And Latinos could be the help most of the time in these situations. But other than that, it's just me. I get there. Nobody's really trying to help me. Nobody's paying me any mind. I'm by myself. I'm trying to, you know, hey, do I. Where do I go? What do I do? You know, I'm dressed in all black, mind you, with a beanie on. So I do look a little aggressive, but. But I'm completely just like, I'm here to work. And the only people who really communicated me was the cooks, who were Latino, and they were hooking me up with the breakfast and the free stuff. And everybody gets assigned positions. I'm the last person to get assigned. So they put me on the hardest one. They put me at the front of the start of the race. I have to set up barricades. I have to make sure everything's flowing smoothly. It was a lot. But I was also right next to the lady who was running the whole thing, the CEO or I don't know what her position was. But she was in charge. She was definitely in charge. And this was the height of Black Lives Matter too. So this was like when Barbecue Becky just happened and Karen and all those terms were flowing out. And so right before the race starts, an old houseless black man, an OG dude, lays in the middle of the street in front of where the race was supposed to happen. Literally right in front of them. And everybody's confused. At this point, there's even more people. There's thousands of people lined up to see the, you know, the ribbon get cut or whatever for the race to start. But for some reason, the police were not there. And it was a moment where I was like, this could turn violent. The police could kill this man. And the lady was trying to get a hold of the police. And I run up to her, I said, no, no, no, no, please don't do that. I could get that man up. Just give me five minutes. And she looks at me and she goes, you have three minutes. Not, oh, wow, thank you. It was just like, go do that. And I run over to the middle of the street and everybody who's watching is confused. They're like, what's happening? All the runners, they're confused. And I stand over him and I wanted to be dramatic, to jolt him, so I go, take my hand, black man, rise with me. And I'm standing over him and he's just like this. He responds, hello. But I'm a crackhead whisperer, so I understand what he's saying. So I grab him and I lift him up and we're standing and we're holding each other's arms like, you know, like the arm wrestling hands. But we're close enough where we could look at each other in the eyes very deeply and feel each other's energy. And people are video recording. It wasn't considered snitching in this moment. And they're clapping and everybody's just like, wow, this is powerful. Eagles in the sky, a lot of energy. Just very romantic almost, right? And we're standing there in the middle of the street and he's. You could look in his eyes and it looked like a deep well of sorrow and suffering. How he looked. His skin was very leathery. His hands felt very. Just like he picked cotton. He felt like he was fresh out of slavery. And, you know, a lot of people don't know after, you know, emancipation, most of us had a lot of skills, but we couldn't apply them because we weren't able to access. You know, there was the reconstruction period. But then Jim Crow came in, there was the kkk. So we were put in positions where we couldn't do anything. We were just hopeless and helpless. And he was a representation of that almost. He looked like he was from the civil rights era, age wise. And a lot of people also don't know that statistically black people are doing worse on all levels than back then in the 60s. So it's a horrible, you know, reminder for me in that moment of where my dad comes from in the South. My dad picked cotton, where I'm just like, wow, this is what happened. This is cointelpro. This is how the FBI and CI destroyed the black power movements and assassinated our leaders. And he's a victim of that. He's a drug addict, he's this, he's that. Not in any judgment. It was just seeing him for what he was and all the pain that he represented. And before I could pull away and try to lead him to the side, he pulls me in close, almost to the point where we're like face to face, like the indigenous Maori greeting where there's the forehead and nose connected to each other. He gets us really close and he looks at me and people are still clapping and going, wow. It was one of those moments. I still get chills when I think about it and feel it like, whoa. And he's staring in my eyes and we're holding hands and he's just like, why did you do that for me? And I couldn't think of anything to say. I looked around, I was just like, because I love you. And he broke down into tears and snot and he goes in for the hug and I'm like, ah, fuck, don't hug me. And so we end up hugging. I embrace it, I accept it. And we're hugging in the middle of the street with all his dirtiness and nastiness. And in no way am I judging him. I'm just saying it's a fact, you know? You know how the New York subways and streets smell. And we're hugging each other in the middle of the streets. Now everybody's really clapping. It's really intense. It's emotional tears in both our eyes. And before we let go after that powerful embrace, he whispers in my ear, can I get a dollar? And I immediately my boner goes down. My energy just goes out the window. I'm like, were we actually feeling that moment together or were you trying to act to get the money? Were you actually even with me? Are you even here right now? Do you have the invisible cloak on right now, bro. We move to the side. I give him a dollar and I'm laughing. And, you know, I don't want to ruin it for anybody on the sidelines because some people are like, what did he say? And da da da da. All I could think of to myself was black is the loneliest color?
