Torn Apart

I have studied child protective services for decades. It needs to be abolished.

- By Dorothy E. Roberts

On a summer day in 2017, a Black family was enjoying a picnic in a park in Aurora, Colorado. Among the dozen or so relatives who gathered there was Vanessa Peoples, a 25-year-old nursing student, and her two sons, Malik and Talib, ages 2 and 4. Vanessa, the boys (whose names have been changed to protect their privacy), and Vanessa's husband lived with her mother, Patricia Russell, in a modest, single-story brick house on a tree-lined street; all the adults pitched in to care for the rambunctious little boys. Vanessa had been having a rough go of things. She was undergoing tests to see if she had leukemia, and she suffered from asthma and was prone to seizures. Her illnesses had turned her naturally lanky frame rail thin. That day in the park was supposed to be a relaxing retreat from Vanessa's exhausting schedule of classes, medical tests, and caregiving. Instead, the outing led to the most terrifying experience of her life.

When one of Vanessa's cousins got up from the group to go to work, Malik traipsed behind her. Vanessa grabbed Talib to run after them. But before Vanessa could reach them, a woman who happened to be passing by snatched Malik by the arm, ostensibly worried that he was wandering off. Vanessa could see her talking on her cellphone as she and Talib approached. Ma'am, that's my son, Vanessa told the stranger holding her child when she caught up to them, only a minute later. But the woman refused to let him go. She had called 911 to report Malik as being unattended. Vanessa was in no shape to physically pull Malik from the woman's arms, so she waited for the police to intervene. But when an officer arrived, he questioned Vanessa and demanded proof that she was Malik's mother. The officer finally let Vanessa take Malik back when relatives gathered around to vouch for her. As the officer was leaving, he handed Vanessa a citation for child abuse and reckless endangerment.