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On Monday, when the Justice Department released its report recommending changes in the Philadelphia Police Department’s use of deadly force policies, I thought of the first time I saw police brutality.

I was 24, my parents had just divorced, and I’d only recently moved to North Philadelphia from West Oak Lane.

As a child who’d spent his life in a working class neighborhood prior to moving to a place where poverty was more prevalent, I’d never before had reason to fear the police.

But on that day, as my brother and I started down from a third floor window, I just learned what it meant to be black in a poor community. I learned what it meant to be vulnerable.

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Photo: Tara Giancaspro . Flickr Creative Commons

Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com and morning host on 900 am WURD radio. Click here to learn more about Solomon