In the year following the shooting incident in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Jacob Blake reflected upon his life and the events that transpired. On Friday, Aug. 23, 2020, Blake, then 29 years old, took part in a CNN interview on the topic of healing. Both physically and mentally, Blake spoke about just how bad the shooting was.
According to Blake, because the incident could happen to me again, he doesn’t feel like he has survived. “Yeah, good, and yeah, I’m about to be walking,” he said to the outlet. There is no way I can survive until something changes in my life.
After months of physical rehabilitation, Blake said he was finally able to take a few steps during his son’s birthday celebration last Monday (Aug. 23).
“I am still dealing with a lot of pain,” he said. In the past week, I have been awake for several days in a row [and then] slept for an entire day.”
Blake said he was depressed for long periods of time, which caused his body to hurt in addition to the physical damage caused by shooting. His anxiety attack was also triggered by the sounds of fireworks that he heard during the weekend of the Fourth of July, and he called 911.
The booms that I am hearing are not frightening me because I got shot, it is frightening me because all of those other people have been shot, so every time a boom goes off, I imagine people dying around me,” he said about the experience.
As of one year after Blake was shot, the officer who shot him, Rusten Sheskey, has remained uncharged as well. Michael Gravely, the Kenosha County District Attorney, cleared Sheskey of any wrongdoing in April and he has since been reinstated as a police officer. According to The Guardian, the soldier’s service weapon was stolen a month after he was suspended from service.
Blake has been very active since last year’s shooting in his nonprofit Edifye, which he co-founded with a colleague. I’m referring to CNN’s report on Edifye, which organizes events for community members and raises money for communal bail. Edifye works with professional athletes and more to do so.
This article was penned by Jonathan P. Wright. Jonathan is a freelance writer for multiple mainstream publications and CVO of RADIOPUSHERS. You can read more of his work by clicking here.
