In February 2020, before the U.S. went into isolation, prior to George Floyd’s killing, All American showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll proposed a story to her writers’ room about a young Black woman named Tamika Pratt who was discovered sleeping in her vehicle and who was then shot and killed by police.
More than a year later, on Monday, that story was aired.
“This was always a plotline we intended to pursue,” Carroll tells EW. “As a mother of two young Black boys, I have a lot of pain and anxiety around this topic, so I poured everything into the script, hoping that with all that happened last summer and with the election and with the very public civil rights awakening that this country seemed to have, it seemed like, maybe naively so for my purposes, it seemed like there was a shift occurring. My hope was that when we got to this story that what I’d struggle with the most is that it would feel outdated.”
The Actual Tale of Tamika
All American&rsquos; is a television series that celebrates the lives of Black youngsters.
The show is inspired by the athletic pursuits of Spencer Paysinger, a professional American football player.
It is currently in its third season and has ignited conversations around the 11th episode.
In the episode titled ‘The Bigger Picture,’ the show’s drama highlights the relationship between police and the Black community through Tamika Pratt’s killing.
If you are curious to learn about Tamika and her story, you are in the right place!
Who Is Tamika Pratt in All American?
Tamika Pratt is a young Black woman gunned down by the police while napping in her car.
One of the main characters in the series, Olivia, is particularly shaken by this incident as her fate might have resembled Tamika’s had she not been the daughter of Laura Fine-Baker.
Laura is a Caucasian woman and the District Attorney of Los Angeles County. What strikes Olivia hard is the disparity in the treatment she and Tamika received from the police.
You may recall that Olivia gets into a car accident in the eighth episode of season 3.
She is inebriated. However, the police drives her home when they realize who her mother is.
Tamika was not shown the same leniency. We learn that the young woman was also inebriated but chose to rest instead of driving further.
Regrettably, she loses her life all because a police officer shoots her.
Olivia decides to address the injustice meted out to Tamika in her podcast, which snowballs into the ‘Justice for Tamika’ movement.
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, several TV shows spotlighted the Black Lives Matter movement, systemic discrimination, and law enforcement officers.
However, you would be surprised to learn that the showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll had proposed Tamika Pratt’s storyline to the writers in March 2020, before the tragic Floyd incident that shook the nation.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Carroll admitted they definitely included this storyline because it comes from a genuine fear of real people.
As a mother of two young Black boys, Carroll poured her heart into the script.
She said, “I hoped that when we addressed this storyline, what I’d struggle with the most was that it would feel outdated.”
Furthermore, the 11th episode aired at a crucial and tumultuous time considering the political unrest in the USA.
On April 20, 2021, another Black teenager, Ma’Khia Bryant, was fatally shot by the police in Columbus, Ohio.
This particular incident occurred just thirty minutes before Derek Chauvin was found guilty in the courtroom for the murder of George Floyd.
Carroll said, ” it will feel like I wrote it last week, and that makes me very upset because it means we haven’t made the positive progress that I was hoping for.”
Who Took Tamika’s Life?
Tamika’s story mirrors that of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or other African-American individuals.
The young woman is said to have been shot by a police officer while she was napping.
The narrative seems to align with recent news as Derek Chauvin, the officer responsible for George Floyd’s death, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his crime.
However, the concept, a reflection of moral injustice and police prejudices in the US, was proposed well before the outrage.
In an interview with TV Guide in April 2021, showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll said that she had proposed the storyline in March 2020. Two months before George Floyd’s life was taken.
“I don’t know how I feel honestly because these have been truly challenging scenes to write, and to shoot, and to be immersed in and editing, while also being a parent of young Black children,”
She added: ” it’s a special thing where we pride ourselves on the show being an authentic portrayal of what youth, and particularly Black youth, in America go through — both the hardships and the joy.”
“Nevertheless, this is somewhat one of those occasions where you almost wish it had felt outdated.”
Justice for Tamika” in All American
Similar to real events, Tamika Pratt’s passing sparks an unexpected upheaval.
This begins when Olivia discusses her killing on her podcast, appalled by the lack of response following Tamika’s death.
Finally, Olivia goes even further. Alarmed at the fact that the police officer’s body cam footage hasn’t been released and believing it would ensure the officer’s arrest for Tamika’s death, she hacks into her mother’s computer.
She proceeds to post the bodycam footage showing how Tamika died.
This quickly paves the way for the Justice for Tamika movement, which demands the arrest of the officer responsible for the young woman’s death.
