On Sept. 20, Edward Minta began to run and bike from Ebenezer Baptist Church toward the Statue of Liberty. On Oct. 8, Minta completed his trek.
Minta, also known as Prohaize, is a Georgia State alum and the creative strategist and founder of Justice Trail. Justice Trail takes on social injustice issues, namely police brutality.
“The purpose of this journey was to raise awareness for solutions, to facilitate greater transparency between police officers and civilians; specifically through the implementation of body cameras for active duty police officers,” Prohaize said.
The Run
The trip from Atlanta stopped in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and ended in New York.
“I trained for five weeks. My body was in athletic shape from playing soccer and frequently working out, but five weeks was still a very limited amount of time to condition myself physically and mentally,” Prohaize said. “Most people who venture on cross-country treks condition a minimum of six months, and some train for over a year. I focused on proper running techniques and preventative injury measures during my training.”
On the voyage, there were poor weather conditions, dangerous road states and a limited time to prepare for it all. The warnings of Hurricane Joaquin were also going on at this time.
“The hardest part of this run was traveling through seven days of nonstop rain,” Prohaize said. “My shoes were constantly filled with water and the freezing temperatures were unforgiving. I felt like giving up almost everyday, but the continuous encouraging messages from supporters and Justice Trail’s purpose kept me going.”
Prohaize stayed at friend’s places and sometimes motels to restore energy. The journey gave way to opportunities of education and consciousness raising by meeting different people at different places.
“My trek up the East Coast presented me with an opportunity to educate and empower people on the inadequacies of our justice system, and what we as people can do to help strengthen it,” Prohaize said. “I had the opportunity to share the Justice Trail campaign with an array of different people; local residents, farmers, store clerks, construction workers, even police officers.”
Justice Trail is further continuing their activism by calls to action through the internet and gathering the community when they can.
The Cause
The run was provoked by conversations Prohaize had with friend after friend who had experience police violence. Also, by the prevalent accounts of police brutality in the media.
“Anthony Hill’s death is one of the prevalent cases of police violence that happened right here in Atlanta,” Prohaize said. “He was an unarmed veteran who was shot and killed by DeKalb County’s Officer Robert Olsen. I remember my conversation with his girlfriend, Bridget, who happens to be one of my friends. She mentioned that having visual footage of the officer’s encounter with Anthony would yield true justice against the officer. Due to the lack of transparency, their case has been filled with opposing accounts about what happened during the officer’s encounter with Anthony.”
Police brutality is arguably one of the most widespread dialogues amongst activism the past few years. Many think the solution lies in various legislations and some think it’s not one at all. For Prohaize, the answer is accountability.
“Police brutality can be solved. We must identify specific problems and work with action plans to actualize comprehensive solutions,” Prohaize said. “We are focused on strengthening the transparency in police and citizen encounters through body cameras. A study was conducted with Rialto, California’s police department, where all active duty police officers were required to wear body cameras in 2012. After running the study for one year, the results indicated the use of force by officers decreased by 60 percent and citizen complaints dropped by nearly 90 percent.”
On Justice Trail’s website there is an interactive map where curious minds can check if body cameras have been mandated in their state. If there is not a mandate, there is a template and direct contacts to voice support body cameras to your state representatives.
“By sacrificing my body, time, and energy, I hope to influence people to voice their support for police officer body-mounted cameras to their state officials, which will greatly impact its legislation nationwide,” Prohaize said.
Prohaize: The Artist
Not only is Prohaize an activist, he is also a rapper and artist. Prohaize is the stage name.
The song “Wade in the Water” was released, which shares a name with a famous spiritual in African-American history. The video is uploaded onto Prohaize’s YouTube channel.
“My work as an artist and as an activist influence each other, so this run definitely influences my musical work and vice versa,” Prohaize said. “I love to focus on the good, while also understanding the bad and the ugly throughout various communities.”
Experience the journey
To give first-hand documentation of the tramp, there will be a documentary made by Justice Trail.
“A professional videographer who traveled with me who also was the campaign manager, Jake Schmutzler, filmed and photographed compelling footage which will be used for the documentary,” Prohaize said. “I also have tons of recordings from the shoulder-mounted camera that captured every step of my journey.”
The documentary is planned to be released in Jan 2016. It will be available on Prohaize’s YouTube channel and implanted on JusticeTrail.org.
Justice Trail’s Team
Prohaize – Creative Strategist
Jake Schmutzler (GSU Alum) – Campaign Manager
Devyn Springer (KSU Student) – Photographer
D’mani Devoe (GSU Alum) – Community Outreach
Alden Holt (GSU Alum) – Volunteer Coordinator and Communications
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“By sacrificing my body, time, and energy, I hope to influence people to voice their support for police officer body-mounted cameras to their state officials, which will greatly impact its legislation nationwide,” Prohaize said.
