A Fair Haven-Raised Man’s George Floyd Protest Perspective

A Fair Haven-raised man on Friday walked with his son in peaceful protest of the knee-to-throat death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis, MN police officer Derek Chauvin, police brutality and injustice in the black community — a walk calling for unity.

“Unity, all ages, all races,” said that man, Skip Hawkins. “I’m so proud of these kids today.”

Skip Hawkins walked in the Asbury Park march organized by basketball star Scottie Lewis under the umbrella of his PeaceByU group of activists. He stood beside his son, Tyler, a college basketball player.

The protest, Hawkins said, was a step toward standing together, regardless of race or the badge, in the name of hope, peace and giving a voice to a stifled community: “One love. Thank you to the Asbury, Neptune, Allenhurst PDs, as well the Sheriff’s and Prosecutor’s offices. Appreciate you!”

He spoke, as a father, of the pride in his son, his experience as a black man and father and the movement for change, in a piece posted on Facebook, before the protest, when he said, signaling power in a pose next to Tyler, “Together we stand, divided we fall. I love this kid beyond words.”

A little history of the significance of the African-American community in Fair Haven, where Skip Hawkins grew up …

Fair Haven was largely founded by freed African-American slaves after Jacob Brown was sold eight acres of property in the borough, then part of Shrewsbury Township, in 1838 (after property ownership was allowed in 1798 and seen as a true measure of equality), and then Charles Williams, in the 1850s, inherited property and built his home at the foot of DeNormandie Avenue.

Later, in 1888, when a black community had taken root in Fair Haven, Fisk Chapel, originally located down the street from the eventual Hawkins home, became that community’s social and religious gathering spot. Another Fisk Chapel remains and the original, now called Bicentennial Hall, has been relocated and preserved as a building on NJ Register of Historic Places.

Descendants of the families and friends who bought property from Brown and his descendants as well as those of Williams and others remained Fair Havenites for generations.

Here’s what one Fair Haven-raised man had to say about raising his son, in the face of prejudice, before the protest:

Today, I walk side by side, arm in arm with my son to let our voices be heard against abuse of power, and the singling out of one from others. The disproportionate aggression against innocent black men and women.
From the time my son could understand, I raise him not to see color but rather the person. Not to prejudge, not to make assumptions. At the same time I had to teach that he will be viewed differently by some, by many.
At a young age I had to teach him history, his history of his people which he will not learn in its entirety in school. I showed him the good, the great accomplishments made by blacks, black scientists, black engineers, black doctors and black educators.
Sadly I had to teach him the other side: Jim Crow, segregation, separate bathroom, no civil rights, slave families broken up due to sales as property. The breeding of black men and women as animals to produce a “strong working buck.” The lynchings, laws making it illegal for a black person to read, and sadly so much more. Too much more.
I had to explain the racism his family suffered during those times. I had to share the racism I, as his father, endured.
When he turned 17 and started driving, I had to teach not just the rules of the road, but the rules of a young black man pulled over by a police officer. I had to explain what to say, what not to say, and how to say that. How to respond, when to respond. Take the hoodie off. Hand placement on the steering wheel, turn on interior light, when asked for registration, tell the officer, with eye contact, “I’m reaching for it.” Still with one hand on the wheel.
Every day when my son leaves the house, I pray for his safe return. Every night when he’s home, we hug before he goes to sleep. We have to, because due to color, we never know which one of us may not sleep in our own bed.
So today with pride I watch my son and his friends march in protest organized by them for you, for us. With pride I will watch him see the world as he wants to see it with change. I will watch him speak before a crowd with vision, conviction and hope. Today I feel blessed. Tonight we will hug. And lay safely at home. God bless you all.