CAUTION this episode of BLACK FRIDAY contains a depiction of police violence involving a firearm. For a transcript of this episode, visit our website theblackfridaypodcast.com
[INTRO MUSIC]
My name is Tycho Newman
This is black Friday
[Music]
NEWSREADER
[tape starts] -and our final story before you hit the stores for those Black Friday sales. A strange, but true story, of a local man who woke up to find he had undergone a radical transformation! Our correspondent, Valerie Hawkins has more.
HAWKINS (V.O).
By all accounts, Sam Gregor was a regular guy who had it all. A good job, a loving girlfriend, and had just finished paying off his student loans. Sam is a typical New Jersey guy, of Italian and Polish descent. He grew up in this neighborhood just outside Jersey City, spending his summers delivering pizzas and bagging groceries at the local grocery store. He graduated from New Jersey State University with a degree in communications and got a job in the area so he could be close to his parents. But two weeks ago today, this all changed dramatically.
GREGOR
It was a real shock to me.
HAWKINS (V.O)
I met Sam at an undisclosed location, at his insistence. We also aren’t using his real name and have blurred out his face because he fears retaliation for speaking out.
GREGOR
It was kind of a surprise really. I’d had a pretty regular week. I was looking forward to going fishing with my dad over the weekend. I went to bed that Thursday night, and when I woke up on Friday morning, I didn’t recognize the person in the mirror.
HAWKINS (V.O)
That’s because, when Sam Gregor looked in the mirror that Friday morning, he realized that overnight he had turned …
(beat)
… into a black man.
HAWKINS
How did you feel?
GREGOR
I was basically in shock. At first I thought it was a dream! But then I realized it really was me. Except now my skin was dark.
HAWKINS
How did you become sure it was you?
GREGOR
Well, I have this - right here - really distinctive scar on my forehead, and it was still there. Plus, all of my clothes still fit so I was basically the same shape, I guess, if you can call it that. And my glasses. I still needed them. If somehow I had switched bodies, I guess my prescription would have changed.
HAWKINS
What did you do next?
GREGOR
The first thing I did was call in sick. How was I going to explain this to my boss? (laughs).
The next thing I did was call my girlfriend, and then my parents.
HAWKINS
How did they react?
GREGOR
(Laughs) My girlfriend … is still processing it. I can’t blame her, it’s a huge life change. As for my parents?
[beat]
They thought it was a practical joke. My dad even started telling me about this time he wore blackface to a Halloween party. He was supposed to be Prince, or something.
[beat]
They’re still in shock too, but I guess they’ll find their way to accepting it.
HAWKINS (V.O)
Sam hasn’t been back to work in the last two weeks, and has been working from home, avoiding neighbors and friends. His parents haven’t yet visited or called. We reached out to his parents and girlfriend for comment but our calls were not returned. Through it all, Sam remains optimistic. His sense of humor is obvious.
HAWKINS
This must be a really trying time for you.
GREGOR
It is, but you know what they say, right? Black don’t crack.
GREGOR (Cont)
I mean, I hope it’s not permanent. But at the same time, a lot of worse things could have happened to me. I could have been hit by a car. Or gotten cancer. All in all, this isn’t too bad.
HAWKINS
What do you plan on doing next?
GREGOR
I guess I’ve gotta figure out what to do next? Get a new driver’s license? A new passport? [laughs]. I just thought of this - how am I going to answer the census questions? [laughs] I’m certainly not a regular white dude anymore.
HAWKINS
Whatever is next for Sam, We’ll be sure to check in to see how he’s doing. Valerie Hawkins, NJC News at 6. Back to you in the studio.
[TAPE STOPS]
[Music]
NARRATOR:
Hey everyone. This is AudioLab.
So this was the first documented instance of the Black Friday phenomenon in the popular media. For the most part, it went completely unnoticed. Probably because it first aired at a 5 o’clock newscast on the day after Thanksgiving. Valerie Hawkins, though, had a sense that something bigger was going on …
[Skype ringtone]
CUT TO HAWKINS
[microphone rusling] Okay, is this good? Can you hear me?
NARRATOR
I can hear you.
HAWKINS
Awesome. So how do you want us to start?
NARRATOR
Why not start with your name, and what you do?
HAWKINS
That’s right. My name is Tricia Kowalcizski and-
NARRATOR
Sorry, what? Can you repeat that?
HAWKINS
[laughs]
In the TV business, they give you an “normal”-sounding name when your name is too hard to pronounce. Or spell, like in my case. My real name is Patricia Janet Kowalcizki. I prefer Tricia. Or Trish. But on TV, I’m Valerie Hawkins.
NARRATOR
How did you get started in television?
HAWKINS
I think I always wanted to be a newscaster, you know? I used to play news reporter all the time when I was a kid. In college I took an internship doing gopher work at the local news affiliate, and I just did anything they asked me to.
NARRATOR
Anything?
HAWKINS
Well, nothing untoward.
NARRATOR
But they made you change your name?
HAWKINS
There was that. But my first job was literally sorting cables. Then they had me tracking down archival footage. Then they had me working sound, like I would mic up the anchors and guests. One of the anchors was sick one day, so they asked me to sit in on a reading run.
NARRATOR
A reading run?
HAWKINS
Yeah. Lots of newscasts are pre-taped. They asked me to read some lines last minute in case they needed to. They never used the tape, but the producers liked it so much, they asked me if I wanted to do some field spots. That Sam Gregor bit was maybe my third one.
NARRATOR
Are you serious?
HAWKINS
Yeah.
NARRATOR
How did you find the story?
HAWKINS
Social media, mostly. The guy’s girlfriend - well, ex-girlfriend - was a friend of a friend of a friend. She posted it on social media, a picture of him before and after he turned black.
NARRATOR
Do you have the picture?
HAWKINS
Yeah! Hang on …
[beat]
Here you go.
[chime]
NARRATOR
You didn’t think … you didn’t think it was a hoax, or something like that?
HAWKINS
Who would fake something like that? Blackface? In this day and age? You’d get crucified on social media. Remember that one chick in Washington state?
NARRATOR
And that was enough to convince you to interview him?
HAWKINS
I did run it down. I emailed him, asked him to reach out. At first he was very suspicious, but after a couple of days he started to talk.
NARRATOR
What did he talk about?
HAWKINS
Just general bullshit, really. He didn’t want me to use his real name. He wanted me to blur out his face and replace his voice. Which we did.
NARRATOR
What did your higher-ups think?
HAWKINS
They just wanted some last-minute filler for a five o’clock show. No one watches the news on a Friday afternoon. Let alone the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving.
NARRATOR
They weren’t concerned that the story might be fake?
HAWKINS
It was no skin off their noses. At worst, they would say a rookie reporter got pranked. If it came to it, they’d fire me. But, I’d been on the air so few times, they could have put a brunette wig on me and call me Hillary Vawkins. No one would notice, probably.
NARRATOR
That doesn’t seem very likely.
HAWKINS
Yeah well. We live in strange times.
[Ad Break]
Support for this podcast comes from the University of Westsylvania. Go Westies!
[beat]
Support for this podcast comes from Cadmus Pharmaceuticals. Cadmus - making life better.
NARRATOR
But you followed up with Sam
HAWKINS
I did. About six months later, when he was shot.
NARRATOR
Tell me about that.
HAWKINS
Police shootings are actually pretty uncommon. Especially in this town. So it was pretty big news when it happened. I brought the tape.
CUT TO, TAPE
HAWKINS (on TAPE)
Fields was driving on route 202 when police officers spotted what they believed was a broken tail light and expired tags. They pulled him over to give him a warning.
[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
NARRATOR (over the recording)
Hang on, so his real name was Kevin Fields?
HAWKINS
Yeah.
[POLICE OFFICER trudges over gravel]
[FIELDS lowers window]
OFFICER
I’d like to see your license and registration please
(beat)
Sir, I’d like you to step out of the vehicle please.
FIELDS (ON TAPE)
Officer, I can explain
OFFICER
Place your hands behind your back.
[brief struggle]
OFFICER Cont.
This will go a lot smoother if you stop resisting.
FIELDS
Officer-
OFFICER
Sir! Stop resisting!
(struggle continues)
FIELDS
… I can explain.
OFFICER
All right, TASER, TASER, TASER!
[gunshot]
[FIELDS screams]
(long beat)
HAWKINS (ON TAPE)
Things take a turn when Fields hands over his driver’s license. From the bodycam footage, you can see the police officer order Fields out of the car. Fields complies and exits the vehicle, and from here you can’t really see what else happens.
[TAPE stops]
HAWKINS
Naturally the police said it was a mistake. The cop mistook his taser for his gun.
NARRATOR
Wait. Why did they tell him to get out of the car?
HAWKINS
That’s not even the worst part. Turns out the guy who shot him wasn’t really a cop.
NARRATOR
What?
HAWKINS
Yeah. He’s just some wealthy retired insurance guy. He donates a lot to the local Police Brotherhood. In return he gets to ride along as a “reserve deputy.” They give him a badge and a gun.
(beat)
HAWKINS
It’s really common.
NARRATOR
The reserve deputy thing?
HAWKINS
No, I mean yes. That. I meant the “mistaking a taser for a gun” thing. There’s a couple of cases where it happens in a jail cell.
NARRATOR
I still don’t understand how he got shot.
HAWKINS
He hadn’t changed his driver’s license.
NARRATOR
(beat)
You can’t be serious.
HAWKINS
He tried a few times but gave up in the end. He would go down to the DMV with his birth certificate, social security number, everything. They refused to believe him. They thought it was some kind of a scam.
(beat)
So what do you think happened when the police pulled over a nice car, with a black guy whose license picture doesn’t match his face?
NARRATOR
But he … Kevin … survives.
HAWKINS
Yes. The bullet grazed his sixth vertebrae and caused a lot of internal bleeding. But he survived. Doctors said it was unlikely he was ever going to walk again though.
NARRATOR
What happens next?
HAWKINS
What you’d expect I guess. His parents filed a lawsuit. They asked for $40 million but settled for an undisclosed amount. The reserve deputy who shot him got kicked off the force, but nobody’s done anything about the program as far as we can tell. Basically they tried to bury it and move on.
NARRATOR
You went to see him one last time. Tell me about that.
HAWKINS
About three weeks ago I gave him a call to see how he was doing. He looked terrible when I saw him. Hadn’t shaved. He had fired his home health aide. His girlfriend had come back for a little while, but once it was clear she wasn’t getting a payout, I guess she left. That’s what he said anyway. It’s more likely he was depressed and she just couldn’t take it anymore.
[TAPE starts]
FIELDS [on tape]
Why did this happen to me? All of this. I wake up one morning and my entire life goes upside down simply because my skin color changed. I didn’t ask for any of this.
And you know, I get it. I get that what happened to me seems strange. But it’s not a huge difference. It’s everyone else who is being fucking weird about it.
HAWKINS [on tape]
I … I am so sorry for this. I feel like it’s my fault.
FIELDS [on tape]
I mean, because of your story I got some fifteen minutes out of it. And now people know that it can happen to you. So maybe if it happens again …
HAWKINS [on tape]
You mean white people turning into black people?
FIELDS [on tape]
Yeah. There’s no way it’s just me.
HAWKINS [on tape
How do you know?
FIELDS [on tape]
A feeling, I guess. Something in the world - maybe in the universe - changed. I’m just one way it showed up. But I’d be surprised if it was just me. I guarantee it’s not just me. The whole world is going to freak the fuck out becausethere’s suddenly more black people.
HAWKINS [on tape]
Doesn’t that sound freaky though? I mean …
FIELDS [on tape]
Yeah! I was freaked out when it happened to me! But it wasn’t the end of the world, you know? Me! I can live like this. It’s other people who don’t seem to be able to.
[beat]
But when shit does hit the fan, then you’ll know I guess who your real friends are.
NARRATOR
Ominous and prescient to the end.
HAWKINS
He sent me an email. I have it here.
(beat)
HAWKINS Cont.
Here, you read it.
NARRATOR
He writes “Hi Trish. I wanted to thank you for checking up on me. I think I was lying to you when I said I could live like this. The truth is, I can’t. It’s too much. I basically live in pain, and at the same time, I can’t even feel half my body. I don’t know that I made the right decision. But I do want to thank you for giving a -”
… well.
[beat]
And that’s it.
NARRATOR
Thank you so much for sharing this story with us.
HAWKINS
Thank you for having me here.
CAST
THE NEWSREADER: Anairis Quinones
VALERIE HAWKINS: Leslie Gideon
KEVIN FIELDS: A.J. Beckles
THE NARRATOR: Elliot Gindi