Protesters took to the streets last week in Pittsburgh, demonstrating and chanting for the justice of Antwon Rose Jr., a black 17-year-old who was unarmed and shot by the police last Tuesday after running away from a car that had been stopped by police.
Irene Monroe joined Boston Public Radio Monday to talk about Rose, the protests, and the long term impact the many shootings of unarmed black men have on the African American Community.
“What I worry about is that the summer is young. We might very well unfortunately see more protests like this, I’m hoping not many more shootings,” Monroe said.
Monroe referenced a recent study published in The Lancetthat found that these shootings reverberate through and can be felt through the psyche of black Americans throughout the country and has adverse effects on their mental health.
“These violent encounters have a direct impact on the mental health of black Americans living in communities that experience police shooting,” Monroe said. “The trauma doesn’t just affect the family that is impacted by it, like the rose family presently, but the entirely African American community.”
