‘Every day, I fear for my life.’ South Carolina’s Dakereon Joyner’s remarks from Monday
South Carolina wide receiver Dakereon Joyner spoke with power on Monday.
The third-year athlete shared his story of personal loss, of fears he still holds and the message for something more. At one point in his speech the emotions caught him, but he carried through with his story as part of the South Carolina football team’s demonstration for racial justice Monday.
Below are his full remarks from a charged morning:
“Good morning everybody, I appreciate you all being here with us today, giving us a chance to speak, giving us a chance to be heard.
Today I’m going to hit on something different. I don’t really have a speech. I have some bullet points written down, just to hit on a few things that I feel as though I’ll speak for my teammates. Not just my teammates, I’ll speak for men in America, Black men in America, everybody that has some kind of feeling. I’m Dakereon Joyner. I’m a junior at the University of South Carolina. I’m from Charleston South Carolina, home of the Walter Scott shooting in 2015, home of the Dylan Roof shooting on Wednesday, June 17, 2015. (Pauses)
On June 17, 205, Dylan Roof sat inside of one of our most historic, Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston South Carolina, sat inside bible study on a Wednesday night. Throughout the night he sat there. One of my family members, by the name of Tywanza Sanders, if you have SnapChat, you know. He recorded Dylan Roof on Snapchat that night at bible study, not knowing an hour later or an hour and a half later, he would take their lives.
I say that to say, after that incident, being from Charleston, South Carolina, I will never be able to go to church without thinking somebody across from me, the opposite color as me, even the same color as me may hate me for who I am or want to take my life. I think that feeling will always sit with me. Not being able to enjoy church, enjoy Christ and be at peace.
I’m also going to hit on a word that also touches me as well. I’m going to take a different route. The word fear. The word fear reads, ‘An unpleasant, often strong emotion, caused by anticipation or wariness of danger.’ I know some can relate, but every day, I fear for my life.
I look in the mirror every single day and I pray before I get in a car because I know one mistake while driving, not turning on my signal light, changing lanes too fast, anything, I could potentially be pulled over. My mother, the last 5-6 years, it’s become a popular thing for our parents to teach us to keep our hands on the steering wheel, don’t reach for anything unless told to do so.
I think it shouldn’t have to be like that, but that’s just the way the world is nowadays. I definitely fear for my life whenever I drive because I know I’m not perfect. I’m going to make mistakes, and not knowing if that could be the end of my life at a traffic stop.
I say that to say, I think all that comes down to dialogue, communication. I believe we all need to be able to communicate better, properly communicate better, understand one another, just be able to hear one another. Me and my brothers and my sisters are here today, not asking for sympathy, I’m just asking for your mind, your heart, your soul and a piece of understanding to be able to hear everyone speaking. Equality, you know what I’m saying? I just pray that one day, I don’t have the answer, I don’t have the resolution, but I’m just asking for change. I’m asking for help, I’m asking for insight so most everybody can understand each other. One day we can someday overpass this and see better days. Thank you.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 11:54 AM.
