Black EOE Journal www.blackeoejournal.com 49
COVER STORY
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nthony Anderson, the kid from Compton, the Hollywood power player, is his ancestors' wildest dreams. He knows it, he feels it, but it's not just a dream, it's a challenge as the biggest civil rights battle since the 1960s plays out. Tp!ift!fnfshfe!bt!b!qspnjofou!hvsf!jo! the Black Lives Matter movement. "We are the boots on the ground that will make change. We are the blood of each other's blood," Anderson told demonstrators at a BLM rally earlier this year in downtown Los Angeles. "We must operate from an economic base. Recycle your Black dollars within our own community. That is one of the fastest ways for us to make change. Also, to make a change we have to get out and vote." He does it for George Floyd. For Breonna Taylor. For Jacob Blake. For countless others. He does it because he could have been another name on a long list that nobody wants to be on. "Thirty years ago, as a sophomore at Howard University, I marched in a peaceful protest in opposition of the Ku Klux Klan marching in Washington, D.C., that same day," he recalls. "The entire route was lined xjui! fwfsz! pgdfs! boe! V/T/! nbstibm! jo! uif! DMV area... In my rush to get to the end of the route to make sure my voice was heard, I marched past the police splinter unit and was opx!dbvhiu!cfuxffo!bu!mfbtu!311!pgdfst!jo! full riot gear... As I'm walking away a white pgdfs! ijut! nf! gspn! cfijoe! xjui! ijt! sjpu! shield. I turn around not knowing what just happened and he's standing there wielding his baton, yelling at me to leave. I screamed back, 'I am leaving!' He then, unprovoked, hits me across my left leg with his baton and after uibu!bmm!ifmm!csfblt!mpptf/!Jo!bmm-!ojof!pgdfst! took turns beating me before they threw me off a 6-foot concrete embankment backwards, blindly, as I'm being illegally struck in the head with the steel ring on the back end of the baton. I speak out not only for those who have experienced this brutality, but I also speak for myself." Anderson, who stars in the acclaimed TV comedy black-ish and hosts To Tell the Truth , has never held back when it comes to speaking out against systemic racism. "This has got to end," he said. "We need reform." Four years ago, black-ish ran an episode about police abusing an unarmed Black teen. Three generations of the Johnson family grappled with how to discuss the issue. ABC has rerun the episode, titled "Hope," as America copes with its original sin. You can still view it on Hulu. Anderson spoke with Black EOE Journal while abiding by California Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order over the summer. "You can only organize your closet so many times," he joked, adding that he owns 300 pairs of shoes. Truth is, he made use of his time at home- going vegan, growing his own fruits and vegetables, and losing 17 pounds. He hosted an interview with Angela Rye for BET's COVID-19 Relief Effort, and appeared on The View to speak about staying active while at home. He formed a thread with Cedric the Entertainer, George Lopez, Don Cheadle, D.L. Hughley and Chris Spencer. "We do push-ups and sit-ups and plan throughout the day," he said at the time. "We hold each other accountable." That's a through-line with Anderson, 50, a husband and father of two. Make. Things. Better. He was raised in South-Central Los Angeles,
Anthony Anderson Pushes for Justice
We must be headlights and not taillights - late congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis (1940-2020)
By Brady Rhoades
Anderson speaks in front of the Hall of Justice on June 3, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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