Breaking the "cycle" of police violence & silence

An interview with the directors of "CYCLE"

According to Mapping Police Violence, police have killed 1,096 people in the U.S. so far this year. Where’s the outrage in our media? Systemic police violence isn’t an issue to gloss over, but too often, stories of police killings don’t make national news. We know the names and faces of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, but they are the exception.

The new documentary feature “CYCLE” is for all the victims we don’t hear about. It follows the story of Ty’rese West, an 18-year-old Black teenager from Racine, Wisconsin who was shot to death after being pulled over by a police officer from a nearby area for riding a bicycle with no headlights. It took the police department 16 hours to notify Monique West that her son had been killed — right on the day of Juneteenth celebrations in Racine.

The film follows Ty’rese West’s killing, the initial silence from the police department, and the civil suit filed by the West family just two months after the decision to not charge the officer involved. Laura Dyan Kezman, director of “CYCLE” and a Racine native living in Milwaukee, says news of the killing didn’t reach her until three months later. Co-director William Howell, an old friend of Ty’rese’s father, says it was an immediate call to action.

Kezman and Howell describe the film as an invitation, “to interrupt the silence that follows so many cases that never go viral — cases where there’s no footage, no public pressure, and no accountability.” “CYCLE” is picking up awards on the film festival circuit, and the trailer is getting its broadcast premiere right here on Laura Flanders & Friends.

Join me on YouTube today at 5:00 p.m. ET to hear from Kezman and Howell about the film and the ways “CYCLE” is already making a difference. You can also get the full, uncut conversation from the show by subscribing to the podcast. Tell your friends about the episode too. It’s one way to break the “cycle” of silence.

Stay kind, stay curious,

Laura

Thumbnail photo by LionArt Media.