While i was at Stanford during my sophomore year my Angolan International student friend Mario Mendes had just bought a brand new Audio A4. Hed passed his drivers test, but was told he could use a paper license whilst his proper license was in the mail. He already had his Angolan license. A few of us sophomores lived in Mirrielees cause we liked the apartment style housing with kitchennettes... But it meant we had to cook for ourselves. One day Mario his roommate Alai Tseggai and I went to Safeway, we wanted a taste of the new Audi. 50 Cent had just released his second album and Fiddy at that time had no bigger fan than Mario. We were blasting This is how we do ft The Game on repeat, quite loud. It was dusk. On the final stretch towards Safeway, i noticed a police car pass us on the opposite side of the road across the island... My eyes instinctively traced the car, and as it slowed down to make a u-turn, with lights flashing; my heart sank. I knew it was coming for the niggas in the audi. Shit. He pulled us over. Mario was already nervous, and his English proficiency deteriorated as his stammer increased with nerves... Perfect victim. The officer was a burly white man, who was rude and rejected Marios license duplicate and angrily ordered us to go park in a lot. Noticing Marios accent he asked him where he was from, as he cursed him for driving without a license, and asked him how he had purchased his car. this equally incensed Alai and myself... I angrily asked him why that mattered, what his badge number was and it was only when i procured my Stanford I.D when the officer somewhat softened his stance. I explained that we were just Stanford students going to go buy food. (I forthwith understood the importance of aligning yourself with well respected white institutions, which would get tricky after i graduated and moved to East Palo Alto) Eventually the officer demanded we exit the vehicle, and that he would arrest Mario if he drove again... So we ended up calling friends to come get us and drive the car to campus. Mario didnt touch his car for about 2 weeks till his license arrived. We never blasted the beats quite as loud again. That was apparently NOT how to do it it wasnt a game. Next time Ill tell you about how a Ray Charles CD saved me from being arrested in East Palo Alto during #RacialProfilingInCalifornia
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 04:36:26 +0000
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