By Shelley Austin
Published on November 7, 2007
Two combined PJC classes of about 60 students listened attentively to what Movement for Change guest speakers Leroy Boyd, Jeffrey Humbles, and Francis Tolbert had to say about the death of Martin Lee Anderson.
On Tuesday, Oct. 30, students in Mr. Bill Fisher’s African American Literature class as well as Dr. Latricia Gill-Brown’s African American History class had the opportunity to sit in on the guest speakers’ message about becoming aware and getting involved in civil justice.
Martin Lee Anderson is a 14-year-old African American male who died on Jan. 6, 2006 at a Bay County boot camp, in the hands of seven law enforcement officers as a nurse stood nearby and watched.
“We have seven or eight law enforcement officers beating and kicking this kid,” Tolbert said. “We have nurses there that [are] supposed to be checking on his pulse and everything.”
According to Tolbert, Anderson was arrested and turned over to a boot camp because his mother could not control him. He was in boot camp for only one day and was eventually beaten for not completing laps during a run.
Although the final autopsy claims that Anderson died of suffocation, he was beaten beyond recovery, said Tolbert.
“If you have kids, be careful who you trust them with,” he said. “A lot of times you have to take care of business at home yourself.”
Tolbert said that law enforcement officers are supposed to use the least amount of force necessary to control a situation. Deadly force is the fifth step according to Tolbert.
“A lot of times it doesn’t have to get that far,” he said.
The second vice president of Movement for Change, Jeffrey Humbles, said that the sad part about the situation in regard to Anderson is that to the African American community it’s not unusual to end up in the hands of law enforcement.
“The number one message I hope that we can get out of this is to stay out of law enforcement, get into school, take advantage of the opportunities that exist for you,” Humbles said. “Injustice anywhere, in the words of Martin Luther King, is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Anderson was turned over to boot camp to potentially scare him straight and give him a sense of what jail was like with the hope of turning his life around.
“This didn’t happen for Martin Lee Anderson because he was only in this particular boot camp about three hours,” Humbles said.
According to Humbles, Anderson was supposed to go through an endurance run to find out what his physical abilities were but could not finish his 1.5 – mile run. Although there was nothing in the boot camp’s requirements saying that he must finish the run, the guards decided that they would make him do it anyway.
“That’s what this began about,” Humbles said. “He could not complete a one-and-a-half-mile run.”
“This is 2007, and it is amazing that these kinds of things happen,” he said. “Thank God for the video because without the video, it’s sad to say, many non-African Americans would not believe that this type of thing goes on.”
Humbles said that people used to remember the saying that “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
“Obviously in the state of Florida in 2007 a video is not worth anything because an all-white jury said that no one is responsible for the death of Martin Lee Anderson,” he said.
After undergoing two autopsies, Anderson’s death was attributed to sickle cell trait and then eventually suffocation.
“It was stated that he didn’t die from the 25-minute beating, choking, slamming him to the ground, kicking, ammonia tablets put over his face while he was being choked,” Humbles said.
The president of Movement for Change, Leroy Boyd, said that his organization is located in Pensacola and is strongly impact named.
“We are there to bring about changes,” Boyd said.
“It’s for everybody, not just one race,” Tolbert said.
Movement for Change’s first involvement concerning Martin Lee Anderson came from a telephone call from an individual with The Florida Commission on Human Relations. The man asked Boyd what he was going to do about Martin Lee Anderson. Boyd was sent information on Anderson and immediately became involved.
“It’s not about color,” Boyd said. “It’s about the value of life.”
According to Boyd, the videotape of Anderson’s beating came from white representatives who became angry and outraged after viewing it. Boyd said that they should be given credit for letting the world know what happened to Anderson.
“Had it not been for them, the world would not have known about what had happened,” Boyd said.
Boyd said that the officers and the nurse will be arrested again and will be convicted. “The feds are going to intervene, and it won’t be very long before that happens,” he said.
Movement for Change encourages PJC students and other future leaders to become a part of their organization.
Movement for Change is currently trying to develop a youth division and would love for people to come and help benefit the community.
“You may not need Movement for Change, but Movement for Change needs you,” Humbles said.