“When I saw your face so close to his gun, I wanted to snatch it and melt it into black grits. Ever since police started approaching me more often in Mississippi, I wanted the power to melt every gun in the world into black grits.” (Heavy, Kiese Laymon p. 81)

In this second section of the memoir Heavy, Kiese Laymon details his experience with Maryland police while he and his mother were there for a basketball game. Immediately after getting pulled over, Laymon recalls his mother demanding him to comply with the police and give them no room to have reason to cause any harm. When the officer kneels down, Laymon is not only fear stricken, but angered as well because of how close the gun is to his mother’s face. He’s had an increasing number of run-ins with police, most likely due to the suspicion surrounding tall, husky, black men. But he also knows from his teachings that any wrong move can be justification for some officers to shoot, which is why he wishes to have the power to turn all guns into disintegrated black grits so that they no longer have the power to kill or inflict harm onto black bodies.

Police brutality is a major issue on the forefront of the nation especially in more recent years,  with more media coverage being given to the black lives matter movement which began to protest the use of  unnecessary force against black people in America. Failure to comply with law enforcement, or in some cases, even complying with law enforcement can still result in being a victim of police brutality as those in power often abuse their power and privilege. Due to this problem, Black Americans are taught from a young age to proceed with extreme caution, and always make their intentions clear when dealing with law enforcement, as even just the slightest moves can truly mean the difference between life or death.