Until a couple of years ago, Jordan Rome saw herself only in front of the
camera, not behind it. The actor, a 2014 DePaul University graduate
originally from metro Detroit, is part of the local theater and film scene.
She was always interested in social justice and women’s issues. But a
couple of years ago, when stories about police brutality started to take
over the news, Rome felt she needed to do more to challenge the systems of
power and authority that afflict black and brown communities.
The video is a verbatim reenactment of the arrest except that Rome cast a
white actress as Bland and a black actor as Encinia. She wanted to give the
scene a new perspective so that nonblack people could better empathize.
“It’s a certain feeling when you are constantly watching people who look
like you, your mother, your best friend getting killed in cold blood on the
street and nothing is being done with it,” she says.
More people need to open their eyes to that view and remember we’re more
similar than different, adds Simpson, an artist and native south-sider. His
side gig as a Lyft driver has given him a new perspective on other
communities—just as Rome’s video series aims to do.
