Layla Jefferies is an African American reporter. She often feels as though she blends in well with her white counterparts until something happens in the world that forces her and everyone around her to see that she stands alone because of her race. When her producer calls her to go on scene at the riots and protests that are happening in Ferguson, MO after the police shooting death of Michael Brown she must accept that she is being sent because she is black. There are aspects of her that understands the logic behind sending her there, but there are also parts of her that recognize that race is a problem; for the country, not just the people that a black face represents. She tells a beautiful story of her struggle for what is right and what will keep her job happy by reporting. With a microphone in hand and the camera rolling Layla learns more about herself on this assignment than she ever thought possible. Reporting live from Ferguson, MO.
DI/ Female- Reporting Live From Ferguson, MO
- (Scene opens with Layla fixing her suit and preparing to go live on the air. She is an African American woman in her late twenties. She is stern but pleasant.) This is Layla Jeffrey's coming to you live from Ferguson, Missouri. I am standing three feet from where the body of one Michael Brown lay four days earlier. He was recently shot and killed in the middle of this street, in front of his neighborhood. The question in the minds of everyone in this area including his family, friends, neighbors, media, and slowly reaching the world, is why? (The camera has been cut. She relaxes herself and takes a moment to look over the area.) I know that it's not a coincidence that anytime anything happens in the African-American community I'm the person that they choose to send. I think that in the media there is a level of comfort in knowing that the face that is in front of the camera represents the faces of all of the people standing behind it. The producers came to me and said that they needed me to go out of town to cover this breaking story. They wanted me to be the face of the network. That immediately told me that who ever it was that I'm covering has got to be a face like mine, a black face like mine. Because everybody's playing the same game, everybody's making strategic choices, everybody's playing chess. It's always a matter of who is three moves ahead? Because whoever's three moves ahead is the person in charge, they are the person that is making the smartest decisions, the checkmate is coming. Black crime, black face reporting on the crime, makes sense; my Queen just took your pon.