Finding a silver lining to the recent acts of killing in Minnesota, Louisiana and Texas is nearly impossible.
And while it is important not to let isolated stories of compassion drown out the very real need for social change those acts have laid bare, it is equally important to acknowledge individuals who use tragedy as a foundation for a more open dialogue about inequality in America.
Rapper The Game and his oldest son, 13-year-old Harlem Caron Taylor, are two such individuals.
After talking with his father about what’s happened in the past few weeks involving officers and the communities they police, Harlem decided he wanted to find a “good cop” and do something nice for him.
The teen did some digging and discovered North Little Rock PD’s Tommy Norman, a cop with a reputation for helping financially struggling students, dancing in the streets with kids and generally being an all-around standup guy.
Harlem set up a GoFundMe page for Officer Norman using the #AGoodSonForAGoodCop hashtag and, after his dad also began promoting it, the fundraising campaign took off.
A photo posted by The Game (@losangelesconfidential) on
The father-son effort has already raised nearly $65,000 for Norman to use to buy items like snacks, drinks and toys to keep in his trunk and distribute to community members.
So who exactly is Officer Norman and who will the campaign be helping?
See for yourself:
A video posted by Tommy Norman (@tnorman23) on
A photo posted by Tommy Norman (@tnorman23) on
Just being there means a lot! #CommunityPolicing #StayCommitted
A video posted by Tommy Norman (@tnorman23) on
When you receive a text from a young person who is appreciative! Thank you for reaching out @xvibaja
A photo posted by Tommy Norman (@tnorman23) on
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