A Long Way From Home

This summer, a team of young men tackled the relationship between police and young men of color in "I Just Want To Come Home," a 120-foot-long mural in Bushwick. 

In the first video of a two-part Thirteen WNET exclusive, these artists discuss the many perspectives and experiences they had to consider to create this monumental artwork. The youth understood the importance of the issue they faced. They knew that "at the height of stop and frisk, the NYPD had conducted more stops of young black men than the total population of young black men in New York City."* Nearly all of the artists had been stopped on the streets by police at some point. 

But as one youth explains, "Some people do appreciate cops in their community. Since this is in their community, we have to portray some cops as good people doing their job."

In the second of two exclusive videos about the work, the young men discuss how this  project inspired them as activists and artists. "Working on this mural inspired me to see how a visual piece can create a bridge between social and political issues," one of the young men said. 

Watch the videos to see the artists reflect on how they navigated the complexity of civilian-police relations to arrive at the final design. 

Amplify these young men's stories by sharing the video on Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #groundswellnyc.

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