samaria rice, aclu create kids safety booklet in tamir’s memory

Five years almost to the day after her 12-year-old son Tamir Rice was shot and killed in what amounted to a drive-by shooting by police, Samaria Rice has partnered with the ACLU to prevent something like that from ever happening again. The booklet, The Tamir Rice Safety Handbook, aims to guide children through the stress of police interactions. And most importantly, keep them safe. The simple text shows children and teenagers how to assert their rights in hypothetical scenarios that range from being questioned on the way home from school to having the police show up at your home.

The eight-page guide is available for download on the ACLU’s website with physical copies available at the foundation’s headquarters.

“Black children often have to be adults,” ACLU Campaigns Manager Melekte Melaku, who worked on the booklet with former colleague Emma Keeshin and Samaria Rice, said. “They have to navigate these encounters and have this information on hand in a split second where they might be scared of what’s happening next.

“We want to make sure we’re giving kids the tools that they need, while acknowledging that it’s not fair that young people have to walk around and fear for their safety like they still do in Cleveland,” Melaku said.