‘The Pickup’ Blends Comedy, Chaos, and Reparative Justice — and I Was Not Ready

When I pressed play on The Pickup, I was ready for a light, laugh-filled heist romp. Keke Palmer, Pete Davidson, and Eddie Murphy in one film? Directed by Tim Story? I expected chaos. I expected jokes. I expected surface-level fun. What I didn’t expect was a film that would detour from slapstick and romance into a quiet story about Black grief, corporate neglect, and what happens when the system that takes from us decides we’re not worth the refund.

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Witnessing a Revolution Unfold (And How I Hope it Continues)

Originally posted at Just Add Color | Featured photo by munshots on Unsplash

The past few days have been a whirlwind, to say the least.

As we have all seen or heard at this point in time, George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police when former officer Derek Chauvin put his knee on Floyd’s neck. Chauvin has since been arrested — initially on the charge of third-three murder, but the charge has since been raised to second-degree murder. The other three former officers, Thomas Kiernan Lane, Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, have also been arrested on aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder.

The escalation of charges, however, didn’t come without a fight. For an entire week, people marched in Minneapolis, around the country, and around the world, for Floyd’s killer and accomplices to be brought to justice. Part of those protests included a riot that ended with Minneapolis’ third precinct police station being burned down.

Throughout the riots, protests, and general unrest, I went through a myriad of emotions, to the point where I felt unable to write for this site. I still haven’t watched the video of Floyd’s death because for me, reading about the details, including Floyd calling for his deceased mother, was enough. If I watched the video, I knew I would be haunted by it for the rest of my life. I am already haunted by the lives of so many Black people who have been needlessly killed, and their stories were already compelling me without having to see them get killed on camera. I didn’t want to see the video that would only add insult to injury — the insult being that no one would care.

Or so I thought.

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