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NC Community Members Reflect On Their History With Policing And Protests

WUNC | By Frank Stasio,
Stacia Brown
Published June 3, 2020 at 11:45 AM EDT
Chris Suggs, founder of Kinston Teens, addresses youth protesters at a rally in Kinston, N.C. on June 1.
Chris Suggs, founder of Kinston Teens, addresses youth protesters at a rally in Kinston, N.C. on June 1.
Chris Suggs, founder of Kinston Teens, addresses youth protesters at a rally in Kinston, N.C. on June 1.
Credit Courtesy of Chris Suggs
Chris Suggs, founder of Kinston Teens, addresses youth protesters at a rally in Kinston, N.C. on June 1.

As protests against police brutality, harassment and discrimination continue across the state, community leaders and citizens are taking time to reflect on their own experiences with law enforcement and the country’s long history of racial disparity in policing. 

Host Frank Stasio talks to Toska Cooper of the Carolina Black Caucus, Adriane Lentz-Smith, associate professor of African American history at Duke University, and Nia Wilson, executive director of SpiritHouse about protests and policing.

They are also looking ahead and contemplating the future of policing and public safety. Chris Suggs, founder of Kinston Teens, discusses the protest youth organizers planned in Kinston on June 1, their demands for police accountability and the community pushback the protest received.

Host Frank Stasio talks to Adriane Lentz-Smith, associate professor of history and African and African American studies at Duke University; Toska Cooper, member of the Carolina Black Caucus; and Nia Wilson, executive director of SpiritHouse.

Copyright 2020 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Stacia Brown
Stacia Brown comes to WUNC from Washington, DC, where she was a producer for WAMU’s daily news radio program, 1A. She’s the creator and host of two podcasts, The Rise of Charm City and Hope Chest. Her audio projects have been featured on Scene on Radio, a podcast of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University; BBC 4’s Short Cuts; and American Public Radio’s Terrible, Thanks for Asking.
See stories by Stacia Brown