The Roots’ Questlove commonly shares stories on social media about things that have happened to him as a celebrity as well as when he was growing up in Philly. On Wednesday evening, the drummer shared a story that should have been a story about a teenager seeing one of his favorite groups on the big screen, but it turned into something totally different.
At the age of 16, Questlove saw a U2 documentary, but things went awry when he and a group of friends were pulled over by police hours later.
"Most people's Rites Of Passage are marked happy occasions like graduation or birth or things you do when in love," the drummer wrote. "Mine was being held at gunpoint at 16."
The Instagram post told the story of how his life changed from that night on.
Read the full post below:
Not only was his post poignant, but it also reminds us that unfortunately, these kinds of incidents are rites of passage for black teens. On the heels of Sandra Bland’s death, driving while black is a worry more people have expressed. It's unfortunate that he had to experience that then, and it's unfortunate that at this very moment, another black teen, man or woman could be experiencing the same thing.