I stumbled upon Christian Google’s film work online and was immediately awestruck at how beautifully he is portraying the Black Lives Matter events that are taking place here in Orlando. He is working tirelessly to share his voice with the world. Follow him on Instagram at @Googleishuman and visit his website at www.googleishuman.bigcartel.com. -Angela, current campaign intern
What brought you to this work?
Well, my father is a police officer in Tallahassee, FL, for the Leon County Sheriff Department. He has been with them for 25+ years, since I was born; I am 26. He is Captain Google as we speak.
Having a father in law enforcement didn’t really make my life much different. I was never one of those kids who felt privilege because his father was a cop. At most, if I got into any situations with the police, I would inform them of my father’s position just so they knew. I still have experienced the racial profiling and getting mis-handled by police; some things that my mother and father don’t even know to be honest. But growing up in a different environment than they did, it opened me up to a lot. And if not me, I have multiple friends who I know are within the system and have dealt with the same experiences as well, if not worse. Therefore, when you ask me what brought me here: my experience brought me out here, my platform brought me out here, and just being with my people. That’s why I’m talking to you now, because I know I have a voice that needs to be heard and I will use my platform in the best way I know how, in order to make that possible.
I think about the generation ahead, my sister is 8 and I’m explaining to her why I’m out here because she wants to know. She asks questions. I can’t tell my children I did nothing when I saw a man die slowly, for 8 mins and 46 seconds on the ground with a white police officer’s knee in his neck. I can’t do that. Much respect to the ones before us, but we are in the now. It’s still happening and we have to do something about it!
What are you trying to capture in this pivotal moment for racial justice?
With my photos and videos, I want to capture the history of change. Especially in my city. You see it in the eyes of people, and feel the energy with everyone coming together. It’s on another level.
My goal on the other hand, is to just inform the uninformed. I want to tell a story, from the music, to the raw audio scenes, and knowing that they feel it in their hearts when they see my work.
I want my work to touch the ones who feel like the people are the problem and not the cops. My work is for the ones who never slept in a bed with at least 4/5 people in it; the house with 3 rooms and 13 people staying in it. It’s for people who lost family or a friend to the police but they didn’t get this kind of exposure.
I want to be able to show my children what change I made. I want my videos to live forever.
How can we support your work during this time?
This interview is a lot already! But to someone who doesn’t know me, just share it. Share it with your family and friends.
If you hear somebody say something that doesn’t sit well with you, don’t get mad; just show them my videos. Let them feel the pain and emotions from strangers who are coming together to have their voices heard on a daily basis. Watching my videos they will do just that, because I know what I’m doing it for.
Just share it with somebody, just 1 person. Thank you for the support in advance.
What do you hope to see change in the next election, nationally and also locally?
I hope the people understand that their vote matters. Not just the ones for President and Vice President, but the ones for the boards within our communities as well. I know many of us don’t even like to deal with politics, but to keep saying that who is in office doesn’t affect us, we have to stop now.
We see that Trump being in office was practically the worst thing that could have happened to us. We are living in a world we thought we would never see again. The results of not voting and not speaking up are showing. In that case, I hope for true change, that we as people come together like this during the elections all over the world and continue til’ we get what we want. I want to see more black candidates as well. Feel as though we have to put ourselves in those places to make those changes we want as well. Overall, I know this will have an impact on what’s to come. True colors of people are being seen and heard.