You definitely don’t see this every day. Especially during protests.
Keval Williams, a black man who was a corrections officer for the Oklahoma Sheriffs Department, wanted to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter protest after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Mr. Willams was told no. He then asked to speak to his captain and explained why he wanted to take a knee.
He was again told no.
Most people that work in law enforcement that could be put in this situation would have just taken that no and continued doing their job. Keval Williams isn’t like most in law enforcement though.
Mr. Williams took that no and made the decision to quit his job. 5 minutes later he was outside protesting with everyone else with a sign that read “black lives > white feelings.”
To make things even better, Keval and his girlfriend are expecting their son in just a few days. Losing his income when he has a child on the way in a few days wasn’t his main focus. Neither was losing his income during a pandemic despite finding a new job being hard.
His main focus was to support the people protesting to show some type of solidarity. Mr. Williams did what people in law enforcement are supposed to do and that’s put their feelings aside for the people they are supposed to serve.
I applaud Keval Williams for his gesture of wanting to stand with the people. It’s extremely sad that he was put in a position where he had to decide whether to support the people that look like him or quit his job and lose his livelihood. I’m glad he made the decision that he could live with because it wasn’t easy by any means.
We need more people like Keval Williams. Not just in law enforcement, but also in government, hospitals, and every other type of business. It’s time for people like him to take a stand.
Despite quitting his job during a pandemic and expecting a child in a few days, Keval and his girlfriend have decided not to take any money from anyone or any kind of GoFundMe. He doesn’t want any type of fame either. He just wants his voice to be heard and he’s done a great job of making sure his voice is heard.
Flip the page to see a video of him explaining what happened.
