Jordan Johnson-Bailey

Jordan Johnson-Bailey says he’s learned from his brother that he can always stand tall and stand up to racism.

I’ve always been small for my age. Most of my classmates are bigger than me. However, my brother has taught me not to let my size stop me from standing up for what is right.

When I played football in middle school, I always gave it my best - and I often got creamed. Some of those other players looked like NFL members. But, it was my brother who encouraged me to keep getting up, to face the opponent. The cool thing about my brother was that he didn’t even have to tell me what he was thinking, I just knew.

I remember one day when we were riding the bus downtown. Two white guys with Nazi symbols on their necks told an older black man to move out of his seat. The older man said he wouldn’t get up for them. We were arriving at the bus stop near my home, and my brother told me he was going to stay on the bus to go to the store. I got off and headed home. I knew my brother wasn’t really telling the truth. Later that evening, I got a phone call from my brother. He was at the hospital. I quickly headed to see him, and I was not surprised to see who was next to him. Both my brother and the elderly man from the bus were there at the hospital, cuts and bruises were on their faces. But in the room next to them were the two racists. They had more injuries and were handcuffed to their beds. My brother had stood up to those racists.