Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This morning.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Everybody's j Envy, Jess Hilarius, Charlamagne the God.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
We are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest
in the building.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yes, indeed were having Nicole Bell Welcome, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Are you feeling this morning?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
I'm feeling great, glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
We got a new movie after Shocked and the Cold
Peep Bell Story. What you're being in theaters November twenty eight.
When you decided to tell this story through film, what
truth did you feel America still didn't understand.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
About what happened to Sean.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I think America doesn't understand what the families really go
through behind the scenes. For me, I was twenty two
years old. Sean was only twenty three when he was killed,
and we had two small daughters. My daughters at the
time were baby girls. So going through the years of
fighting for justice the levels of government, state, trial, federal investigation,
(00:53):
departmental hearings, civil and then reforms. Fighting for reforms that
takes a toll. And as a twenty two year old
young woman surrounded by the nation who supported us, my family,
the community, it was that's what really empowered me to
move forward and what I think a lot of people
(01:14):
need to understand is that many people want to tell
their stories. People want their stories heard, and we don't
really know how what outlet. But I'm blessed to get
a chance to meet people like Manny and give us
the opportunity to put this real life story now on
screens for people to see and see what really happened
behind the scenes.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
If you don't mind, I want to go back a
little bit. Yeah, if you don't mind. And the reason
being is after watching a movie. I'm from Queens, so
you lived it, but you just forget right with everything
going on in the world, you forget the ends, the
outs and the details and you just assume right like
I'm not even gonna lie. I forgot the cops gotta
quit it, like you can forget so many things.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
So hell, it's been over twenty years.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
This year this tomorrow makes nineteen years.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So for people that don't know the Sean Bell story,
just break it down a little bit. You guys were
high school sweethearts, you were about to get married, and
I'll let you go from.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
So yes, so Sewn and I both went to John
Allen's High School in Ozone Park, Queens. We're from Queen's
South Side, Jamaica, Queens. So we met there. Sean played baseball,
we met, we dated just like everyone else. After school,
Sean went on too Nasville Community College. He played baseball
for a little there. When I graduated, we kind of
(02:38):
went straight into building a family. I was a young
mom and after the birth of my second daughter, Sean
had surprised me with a ring and it was Christmas Day,
all the family, we were all together sitting by the tree.
He had a yeah, give me a shoe box, right,
and I thought, oh, there's another pair of shoes because
(02:59):
he had me she was before. I didn't really like
the shoes that he brought me last time, but he
bought me these shoes and I was like, Okay, we
got another pair of shoes coming. I opened up the
shoe box. Inside the shoe box was a watchbox. I
was like, oh, surprised I got to watch open up
the watchbox. In the watchbox was a ring box. And
that was the day that, you know, we decided to
(03:21):
get married. So we hadn't made any plans. Maybe about
a year or so had passed, and then at that
point our daughters were Jada was three and a half
almost four and Jordan was just born, so she was
about five months old. So sometime in November of six,
early November, he had sat me down. He's like, one
(03:43):
day he came home, He's like, hey, come, let's sit
down and talk. We were living in far Rock Away
at the time, and I was kind of nervous, not
sure what he wanted to talk about, because he wasn't
to come sit down and talk to me, the type
of person it was just like he would say what
it is. But he had talked to his mom, he
had talked to my mom, he had talked to the pastors,
(04:05):
and he had planned the wedding. My best friends knew,
and I was just shocked that I didn't know. No,
I hadn't find out, you know. I was kind of
feeling like, how could y'all keep the secret for me?
That's one of the most stressful things ever what And
he had it, he had the church, he had. The
only thing he couldn't do was get my dress. And
that's what my best friend told me. His mother told me, like,
(04:27):
he was like, you cannot buy her dress for her, y'all.
He gotta let her pick out her dress. So that time,
that point in my life. It was really the happiest
point in my life. And it was two weeks before
the due date. So we had celebrated November twenty third
as our anniversary, and he was like, we're gonna do
it on the twenty fifth. It was the weekend. The
family's gonna fly in. I mean, they had everything together
(04:49):
and I went then. So the eve of the twenty fourth,
I went for my bachelorette party my mom's house. We
did like a little small intimate bridal shower, and then
he went out with some of the guys from the neighborhood.
My brother in law was there and his father museum
And at some point during the night I got a
(05:11):
call it was early morning, like four am at this
point on the wedding day, that something happened and we
needed to get to the hospital.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Now when that happened, breakdown, because the police tried to lie, right,
It was so many different stories, and like I said,
after watching the movie, you go down this rabbit hole
of google, right, and then you start remembering all the
lies that they did and just trying to break his
character and all that. Without going too much because some
of it's in the movie. Some of it's not breakdown
how the family took that, because, hey, you got a
(05:42):
young man that did everything right. He went to school,
he got his degree, he was working, he had a
couple of jobs. But now you got the city or
the police officers trying to break his spirit. So how
did the family feel during that time?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
It was devastating. It was devastating for his parents. It
was devastating for me. I had to to like isolate
myself from like things like social media, and I couldn't
read the comments things like that. It was just kind
of getting out of hand. But it was completely devastating
me because we were like just in shock, you know,
and a lot of pain mentally. And then there were
(06:16):
stories coming out like the fourth man is a fourth man.
They came out right away with that one, and then
it disappeared right away, It went away, and there was
just a whole smear campaign. And I had come to
find out, just by my attorneys and the leaders like
Reverend Sharkton and people who are around me, like this
is what happens when and some people are killed by
(06:38):
police officers every day, which is.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Crazy because you couldn't even grieve. I'm sitting there and
you try and to grieve, you have these young kids,
but then you're trying to protect the name, and it's
like could you evenn grieve during that time?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
So I went straight into getting active and so the
next day we went to a rally. Day after that,
you know, we did a march, and then after the funeral,
it was just like, now it's time to you know,
let people know, shine of light on exactly what's happening.
So no, grieving didn't happen right away, and I would
(07:12):
go home and cry, you know, I'd come out and
you know, make it, you know, look as good as
it needs to be. But behind the scenes, I was
a mess. You know, I was a wreck. And my
family really formed like this barrier around me to protect
me and help me with the girls. They were so young,
and that was really that was the whole program. From
(07:33):
that point on. Everywhere I went, I was kind of
surrounded by somebody who was from the family or someone
who was there to kind of you know, act as like,
all right, if I have to step in help, you know,
we're going to do that. But I tell people all
the time, you know, like there's no specific order in
which you grieve, you know, for me going through this
film and also working on a book, it brings back
(07:55):
every thought, every memory. There's been times when even recently
I've lost sleep and I had to get back into therapy,
you know and speak to a therapist. But I'm so grieving.
I mean, you gotta grieve and keep it moving. And
that's really what That's what it was about back then.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
All we got more with Nicole Bell when we come back,
don't move.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It's the breakfast club.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Good morning, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 6 (08:34):
Baby.
Speaker 7 (08:34):
I just don't get it. Get enjoy being hurt. I
knowy you smell the perfume to make up o the shirt.
You don't believe his stories. You know, the Pharaoh lieses
bad as you walk stick around And I just don't
know why.
Speaker 8 (08:53):
You know your man, baby, you wor me about what
I do. I because in pot back to you.
Speaker 6 (09:01):
Every night, doing you right.
Speaker 8 (09:04):
It's like a Wama surf good thing this fanandama head
for the brain me yourself.
Speaker 7 (09:10):
I just want to show you you are you should
let me love you.
Speaker 9 (09:15):
Let T be the one give you heavything you for
canny a heavy good love projection, take me.
Speaker 7 (09:26):
Your selection, show you the we love suppose should.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Be baby, you should let me love mourning. Everybody is
ej env just Hilarius, Charlamagne.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
And the God. We are the Breakfast Club. We're still
kicking it with Nicole Bell.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Nicole Bell, who is Sewing Bell's wife, has a movie
coming out this Friday called after Shock. Now, Sean Bell
was shot fifty times, shot at fifty times. He was
killed by police officers as he was leaving his bachelor party.
He was supposed to get married the next day he
was killed.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Charlomagne, how did your understanding of grief change over the years,
Like once the cameras disappeared and life just kept moving.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, yeah, so you know it's like we're living this.
You know, once the cameras leave and the smoke clears,
this is still my life. This is still I still
have to find a way to take care of my daughters.
I still have to find a way to work. I
still have to find a way to you know, keep
this memory alive and do all these things at the
same time. So, I mean my understanding of it was,
(10:28):
you know, we just got to keep it moving. I
have to keep going forward, Like I don't know where
this is going, but I know I'm going to keep
pushing forward and I know eventually we'll get somewhere. And
that's all it was for me, is just keep going,
like I can't think about what's going to happen next month,
but I'm going to take it one day at a time.
And that's really what it's about. It's just pushing forward.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
I would what was something people assume gets easier with
time but actually becoming more difficult.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I think even this, you know, this conversation here, Yeah,
I think people think you know that, hey, you know,
maybe you're far removed from it by now, but it's
it's an ongoing thing. Like I just recently, I was
on the phone with my therapist just balling, you know,
like you know, we everyone you know, thinks of this
(11:15):
whole term, like you know, being strong, and you know,
but there's so many ways to look at, you know,
how what that means, and so we get blinded by it,
like I have to be strong, I have to be strong,
but strong is like just one day. Strong might be
just getting out of bed one day. The next day,
strong might be sitting here on a radio station. It
looks different, and to me, that's the way I identify
(11:36):
what like moving forward is and how grief works. There's
no specific order in which that happens and how it comes.
So I mean, and then my daughters, you know, I
can't be far removed from it because my girls are
every day, you know, a part of him. And my
daughters they deal with it in different ways, you know,
(11:56):
from when they were younger, and you know.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Till now, I was that raising those those young queens
because I remember when it happened, right, my dad, who
was a retired police officer, did not want me out right,
he already didn't want me out. Yeah, you know, it
was always like you got to come home, you got
to drive, and the streets during that time was real dangerous.
So I could imagine the anxiety of every day your
daughter just wanting to leave, to go anywhere.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
So how was that?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Absolutely? I mean, there were talks that you know, if
there's ever you know, if you're ever approached, you know
by a police officer, like remain calm, just you know,
let me handle that. You know, you get as much
information as you can and let me handle that. But
it was terrifying for one, but not just for them,
you know, for for anyone. I loved you know, I
was worried about my dad. I was worried about you know,
(12:46):
my brother in laws, the men in my life. You know,
just not sure about what's going to happen. But it
was bad back then, and people who supported us were targeted,
you know after, you know, for supporting us. I learned
that from you know, elected officials. I learned that from
artists who support us. And it was bad. It was
really bad, and that was so important. That's why it
(13:07):
was so important for me to show people the human side,
like this is who we are, this is who he was,
and this is the family and that's still what it
is even till this day.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Say what parts of Sean's life and characters did you
want this film to reclaim from, like all the media natas.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
So I need people just to know that, you know,
Sean was just like you know, you and you DJ
Mby Like he was a person who like loved his woman,
he loved his family, he loved his mom, his dad.
He wasn't a person who had many close friends. The
friends that he was very selective about who he considered
his friends and the ones who were you know, his friends.
(13:52):
He would take care of him on his bachelor party night,
he was driving his friends, like he was driving the
guys from the neighborhood in my car. So this is
who Sean was. He wasn't you know, a person that's like,
you know, just not you know, or I guess what
(14:13):
the narrative was being pushed out at some points. If
it wasn't for the family, and if it wasn't for
like the advocates and everyone who stood up, like, I
don't know what the image would have been. But for us,
it was important to just show people who he was, like,
this is who he is. He worked, he had jobs,
you know, he he loved to surprise me, like he
(14:34):
had planned a surprise wedding all by himself and pulled
in the family. He this is who he was. This
was the guy was, And it was just made into
this big, you know thing because there were fifty shots
fired by the police officers. That's really at the bottom line,
that's what it was. It was the fifty shots that
were fired by the police officers on our wedding day,
and that was how big it was. That was that
(14:57):
was what made it like sensationalized. But Sean was just
like you and me, Like he was just like any
other person. There was nothing any different, and he was
human like he was a human. He wasn't just a hashtag,
he wasn't just a name. You know. That's you know,
it's not just a headline. It's a family behind us,
and it's a family's grieving.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
What made you come up with the title? After shot?
Speaker 3 (15:21):
That's production. I don't think. I didn't really care about it. Yeah,
I just.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Found an interesting Like, you know, I wanted to know,
why was it important for you to tell that story,
like the years long impact of the trauma, because I
think that's something that people.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Don't think about.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yeah, well that that itself, absolutely, that is a thing.
And that was part of the reason why I wanted
to push forward with the project is because I think
the movie shows a timeframe of like six to twenty
twenty one, and that's a huge part of my life,
you know, And it's it's it's almost two decades that
(15:57):
we're talking about of trying to keep his memory alive.
But these families have gone through every day. Like there's
so many families like mine, and I know them, and
I just hope that this project will like encourage other
families to tell your stories. There's other ways that we
can get the word out. There's other ways that we
can show people, like we didn't receive the justice that
(16:19):
we were looking for, and really accountability would have been
that in this case, I mean, justice would have been
him still being here. But accountability is what we were
looking for. So this is us holding them accountable.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I wanted to know, like when they were acquitted, did
any of those officers apologize?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
There was a public statement that was issued, It wasn't
really directed towards me in the during the court room.
It was very like blatant that you know, they weren't
willing to apologize. After they were acquitted, there was like
a public statement at their press conference, but that was it.
It was nothing personal.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Do we know what happened to those offices? Did they
lose their jobs? Do we know did they get shipped
to another priest? Do we know at all or not?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
So?
Speaker 3 (17:04):
The the officer who followed who fired the initial shots,
he was terminated. The rest of them, I believe they
were allowed to retire with benefits.
Speaker 9 (17:13):
Wo.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Yeah, So I don't know where their life is at
this point, and you know, really I just hope that
they understand, like the weight of what they left behind
and what their actions did that night, and how generally, generationally,
how that affects not just me, not just mister and
missus Bell. But we're now, you know, raising my kids
(17:35):
in that, and I'm just My goal was to make
them strong, make them normal, normal girls you know who
can blend in. And I'm blessed to be able to
say that's the case today. You know, my oldest daughter,
she's like doing her thing, working and has her own apartment.
Jordan's at Howard University, and they're just independent young women.
(17:56):
And I'm so proud. They're like my best friends. They
keep me strong when I feel weak, and vice versa.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
We got more with Nicole Bell when we come back.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Don't move. It's the breakfast club. Good morning.
Speaker 10 (18:10):
Up, it's seven pm, frid joke, it's ninety five degree.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
I ain't got no and no, ain't got beat us go.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
I'm about to.
Speaker 10 (18:19):
Show my fuck this love freak how to stitch your man.
If he right here with me, he turned up with
my he turned up with my ain't turned up in
my shoulders. Say, because I've got that big sixty thousand
fans came see me do my team got a million
and one haters, and then y'all can kiss my.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
Turned up with my turned up with my I ain't
turned up in.
Speaker 10 (18:44):
My shoulders, shay, because right here women came off a
fifth a head kid up with my twist got him
back going full of sock and a bankront full of beans.
All that Twitter typing sing me ain't doing nothing, crapped
out put some bikers shoulders.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
I'm showing up my most.
Speaker 9 (19:00):
No, I'm feeling good to like I'm outside.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Which wanting everybody's dj Envy, Jess, Hilarius, Charlamagne to God.
We are the breakfast Club. We're still kicking it with
Nicole Bell. Nicole Bell, who was Sewn Bell's wife, has
a movie coming out this Friday called After Shock Now.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Sean Bell was.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Shot fifty times, shot at fifty times. He was killed
by police officers as he was leaving his bachelor party.
He was supposed to get married the next day and
he was killed. One thing that bothered, especially the community
and queens, was that when it first happened, people automatically
thought there was going to be a bunch of white
cops and it was racist, right, there was a bunch
of it was I think one white cop and it
was minorities.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Yeah, how did that feel?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Because you know, you really want to feel like at
least somebody that looks like me understands, right, how did
that feel during that time?
Speaker 1 (19:44):
And was that a thing back then?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And yeah, that was insane? And I think I even
heard that, you know, people like, well, how did you
know it was cops? They were you know, they were white? Like, Okay, guys,
y'all got to pay attention to read the story. This
is not that's not what happened because growing up in
South Jamaica, queens like you know about stopping first. You
see that, you see detectives jumping out on people. You
see you know, the marked cars. You know what the
(20:06):
culture was back then, So we're all aware of it.
We're hyper. Like when he arrived at the bachelor party,
he was pulled over by blue and white, a marked car.
He wasn't even given a ticket. I found out this
information during the trial. I didn't even know that. So
when he was parking to get to the bachelor party,
he was pulled over, they didn't eve give him a ticket.
(20:27):
They just already have a good day. Why'd you stop him?
When he was leaving, he was encountered by the cop
who was at the club under you know, investigating the club.
So it was just the community in itself was policed
in a way that just wasn't there to protect, you know,
the people who are from the neighborhood, the people who
(20:47):
live here, like we go to school here, we work
our jobs here in the neighborhood was shot up. There
were homes that were shot, you know, fifty shots. One
went into the air train above ed make a station,
and nobody was held accountable for that. And that's really
part of the reason that fuels me because with all
that devastation, what was the outcome? And you know, and
(21:15):
I don't know what's going to come next, but all
I know is, you know, just the same message. We're
going to keep pushing forward. There are so many victims
who need to be encouraged to tell their stories, and
they want to be encouraged to tell their stories. They
don't they're not sure how. And I just hope that,
you know, this project makes everybody proud.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
And I want to go back to your daughters, like
how did you protect your daughter's emotional world while the
country was just discussing your family is just a political case.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Yeah, because they were watching Disney and Nickelodeon. They were
doing what kids do. They were going to dance school,
they were you know, playing sports. They were not involved
in that. And when they were small, I would take
them to the rallies and stuff. But once they were
old enough to kind of articulate what's going on, you know,
would make sure they were either with Grandma or they
were you know, busy doing something else, and just kept
(22:02):
them focused on what do you want to do? Like,
what do you what do you want to become? We're
going to make you the you know, the best. You know,
whatever it is you want to do, hair, you want
to do, make it, whatever it is you want to
become a lawyer, You're going to be the best at it.
And I think that's where my with my girls, it
was just important that I keep them normal, like, you know,
don't I don't read the comments, So I'm not going
(22:24):
to introduce them, you.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Know what about now because when the movie comes out, yeah,
you know, start that whole conversation all over.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
So we we we do a lot in private. You know,
we we are very tight. We are very close. My
girls are very close to his parents. We we keep it,
you know, really tight. So we've watched it together in private,
and my girls had a lot of questions and there
were things that they didn't even know that after watching it,
(22:52):
you know, I'll get calls like, hey, mom, what did
this mean? You know, what was that about? And I can,
you know, just remember being twenty two and losing him
and thinking like, oh my god, how am I going
to explain this to them one day? And the one
day is here, and now I'm here and we're having
these deep conversations. But now I'm ready to have the
(23:14):
conversations because if I had tried to do this nineteen
years ago, I don't think I would have made it.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
You didn't You didn't even have an understanding of it.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Absolutely, I did not have an understanding of it. Now,
even though the grief, you know, is still there and
I'm working with a therapist and you know, we're we're
dealing with the reality of it. It is. It's just
a matter of it being like a story that is
important to our culture. It's important to our history, and
(23:44):
long after I'm gone, after Shock is going to be here.
And that's what my goal is, Just to create something
that will last and you know we can, you know,
we can hope that you know, this will make history.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Who stood up for you back then.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
You know, we've seen red now and we heard about
jay Z who stood up for the community back then
when you needed it the most. Right, you support people,
you support local people who stood up for you during
that time.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Anybody.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I mean during that time, there was like you said,
Rever Now, there was a lot of people at Nan.
National Action Network was a big deal everyone, you know,
in my community, there were a lot of elect every
elected official you could think of, like some of my
friends now who are now in politics, like the Queensborough
(24:33):
President Donovan Richards, and people like Tamika Mallory from Nan. Yeah,
and these are the people now, right, who are who've
come from that Sean bell era and who marched like
under Reverend now Sharpton, and now they're the leaders of
the time and saying hey, this is what we need
to do because this is what happened in the past.
So those are some of the people I mean even
(24:55):
right now, like Angela Ride that's my girl. I could
text Angela right now and she'll give me some you know,
great advice or like hey, Nicole you need to check this.
You know, my attorney, you know, like female black female attorneys.
I'm surrounded by wonderful people that I can call when
I'm in need. And I think back then it was
(25:18):
the same. You know, there wasn't much of the female presence.
It was more of like the politicians. It was like
the revenue Sharpton. But I think everyone recognized that. That's
that's why you've had like the Mother's Movement who came out.
Everyone recognized that, right, Sabrina Fulton and Green Carr, Eric
Garner's mother, like the movements that came from it, because
(25:41):
it was more of like, this is a political thing,
and it was like, oh, how is it political? You know,
we're not politicians, but you know, because of the you know,
the police officers, they deemed it as political. But I
think the most magnificent thing of that is that all
of the lives that were affected back then and all
the greatness that came from it, all of everyone whose
(26:02):
lives were affected said hey, you know, because of what
happened to Sean, that's the reason why I became this
and that means a lot to me.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
JD did start a trust fund.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Right he did, Yes, he did, Yeah, college fund for
my girls.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Yeah that was that was back in eight Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
Is there a moment public are private that best represents
the emotional after shock of losing Sean.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Public or private? I think that first ever march that
happened in six down Fifth Avenue, it was massive, right.
I didn't even know the gravity of how many people
were affected by it. I thought it was just us.
(26:53):
And then that first ever march that I attended down
Fifth Avenue, it was crazy. I mean we were ending
the march miles down and we could see all the
way back the streets would filled with people. People were outraged.
They were outraged like it was their family member. And
(27:16):
I think that's what moved me to say, oh wow,
I'm not alone here. I felt like I was on
an island, like there was no one who could ever
relate to what I had gone through losing him on
my wedding day in that way. But even though you know,
these people didn't lose him that way, everyone was affected,
everyone was outraged, and then still there was no justice.
(27:39):
And I think that's also a part that defines, you know,
what we're dealing with here, is that no matter how
the amount of people, the amount of outrage, the the
amount of shots. There was still no conviction there. And
you know what are we going to do with that?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
More with Nicold Bell showing Bell's wife when we come back,
it's the breakfast Club.
Speaker 6 (28:04):
Good morning, you silly read and that's gotta lead. Your
(28:35):
back went up a lacking think about it. Since I
saying you least I know I didn't have to walk away.
All I had to do was ask for space.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
I'm telling you beyond you way.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
When I told Judah far back, So can you come
back up? Yoga? No beketu compack yo coat.
Speaker 7 (29:24):
Morning.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Everybody is the DJ Envy Jess, Hilarius, Charlamagne de God.
We are the breakfast Club. We're still kicking it with
Nicole Bell. Nicole Bell, who is Sean Bell's wife, has
a movie coming out this Friday called After Shock. Now,
Sean Bell was shot fifty times, shot at fifty times.
He was killed by police officers as he was leaving
his bachelor party. He was supposed to get married the
next day and he was killed. Me ask about the Cobs, Yeah,
(29:48):
I remember.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Do you believe in the system? After after that, I.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Lost my faith in the system. At I'm be honest
with you, I really did. And now you see fam
since then who've gone through similar things, and it's the
steps that we have to take as family members, and
you got to go through these measures just to get somewhere.
And it's just like we're walking down the same line.
Everyone's walking down the same line looking for a different outcome.
(30:15):
And listen, you know, I sat back and kind of watched,
you know, the families go through this. It's painful for
everyone to think, you know, okay, this is it, this
is the time, and then it's the same outcome. We're
just watching this whole thing just over and over, just
like a vicious cycle. And for me, I mean, Zora
(30:36):
Neil Hurston said, if you don't talk about your pain,
they'll kill you and think and say you enjoyed it.
And that's what aftershock is about. We're talking about our
pain here. And there's so many people who are in pain,
and people who down the line in future might be
in pain. But this is the story for all of us.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
How did advocating for justice reshape your identity as a woman,
a mother, and a leader?
Speaker 3 (31:04):
How did advocate for justice so I feel that it
empowered me it defined you know, who I am. It
really helped kind of give me that strength to push
me forward. I learned a lot about myself. I learned
a lot about our community. But advocacy, it's just a
never ending thing. It's not something that you can do
(31:27):
and turn it off, you know. It's there's always something
to advocate for it, there's always something that needs change.
So I feel that it's the advocacy in itself. It
kind of defined me as a woman, and it made
me feel really like badass.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Really, yeah, I was gonna say, what message did you
want to send it to the world by forgiven the police
officers that shot or did you even forgive me?
Speaker 3 (31:54):
I was going to actually, would you read that?
Speaker 1 (31:59):
I'm sorry? Did you?
Speaker 3 (32:00):
I was gonna ask you, where did you see that?
So I don't think I've reached that place because I
was there and I've witnessed them in real time how
they felt and like during the trial, how they would
pass notes and make jokes. This was like almost like
(32:21):
a board game, you know, And we were devastated, you know,
And it takes a lot to say I am forgiven.
I have to keep it real with y'all. And I
have to. I have to always keep it real. I
haven't forgave. I can say I'm at peace, but no,
I haven't forgiven.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I'm not a forgiving person either. Certain things I just
don't understand. And try to talk to you, but it's
just certain things I just can't forgive.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
And yeah, if I had, maybe, if I had maybe
picked up a hint of remorse somewhere, maybe, but I didn't,
So I can't put that on them if that's not
how they feel. And that's okay, because you know, I'll
find my way and my girls will be We're gonna
you know, we're gonna make it. We're gonna be strong.
We're gonna support his mom, we're gonna support his dad.
(33:08):
Like where we're gonna be. You know, we're gonna be okay.
But as far as forgiveness, now, my therapist.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
Told me last week, you know, if somebody has done
you wrong and you feel like they've harmed you, it
is perfectly healthy to.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Say and that's it.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
I love that therapist. No, that's how I feel.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
That's that's an emotion, that's your feeling. Who is who
are you now compared to who you were before? November
twenty five, two thousand.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Oh man, who am I now compared to her? I mean,
right now, it's wow. I mean, I don't know if
I can find the words for it, but I think
there's really I feel unstoppable. I'm gonna be honest with you.
I feel like this is something that has prepared me
(33:59):
for a life I never had planned. I was just
looking forward to getting married to Sean, and you know,
the love that we have for each other, the love
he had for our girls, that's really what fueled me.
And when they took that from me, it was it
was extremely personal, you know that they did this, and
(34:21):
it kind of made me look at you know, life differently,
Absolutely look at life differently, cherishing you know, our loved ones,
loving on everybody around you, appreciating life Like I'm not
a person who complains a lot. I'm not a person
who takes things for granted. I found the greatness in
everything and losing Sean, the struggle that we had, all
(34:43):
of that has made me this person.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Now, why and when did you decide to do this movie? Like?
What was the thing that like? It's time now?
Speaker 3 (34:52):
So I met Manny Halle back in twenty seventeen and
I had a conversation with him that he had. My
mom was with me. Let me for wine a little bit,
so my mom was with me. My mom was like,
you know, she's my biggest champion. So she was like, okay,
this is this the director, Oh, hey, you ever thought
about doing a movie about Nicole? A movie about Sean?
(35:13):
We went to a premiere, one of his premieres. Sorry
I forgot to leave that got to say that. So
we met Manny. My mom was like, you know, on him, like, hey,
you know, you ever thought about doing this? And was
like you know, maybe you know, I don't think.
Speaker 6 (35:27):
He really knew who we were or whatever.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
But down the line we had more conversations. We talked
a little bit more, and then production kind of came
up with an idea of like, okay, how can we
do this. Let's figure out how to the best way
to make this happen. For me, it was always about
telling the story. You know, I don't know about the
creativity side of it. That's not I'm not in entertainment,
that's not my field. But I have a story and
(35:51):
it's a story that affected a lot of people, and
it's a story that's gonna change lives and if there's
a way that we can get this out there, let's
do it. So as far as the time, I feel
like the best time is now, not only because of
what we're going through in the community, but just because
me personally mentally, I wasn't in a space to be
(36:11):
able to make a movie. Years ago. I was raising
two little girls, I was mourning, going through depression PTSD.
I couldn't do a movie. How could I find the time?
So now it's been almost twenty years, I'm able to
talk about this without the tears. I'm able to you know,
find the therapy. I'm able to talk to my girls
(36:33):
and mentor them and their independent women exactly. You know
what I pray for. Now's the time. It's no better
time than do it right now.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
How can people honor Sean's story in a way that
leads to action, not just them.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
So in a way that leads to action. So we
need we need everyone to one go out and vote
for your local elections and your local elections, like, do
what you can do your part. You know, personally, this
is you know, something that we all have to continue
to to shine the light on, you know, whether it's
his story or it's you know, an injustice that you
(37:07):
know of in your area, Like, let's support each other,
join an organization. If you don't see an organization that
that resonates with you, start an organization. There are many
things that you can do to advocate, and it doesn't
always have to be just in Shawn's name, but get
be a part of some kind of movement. Get out there,
be a part of a movement. And you know, for us,
(37:28):
there there aren't any more legal, you know, measures that
I can take. I've exhausted those. So this is the
next step for me. And I want everybody to get
out there and go see it, you know, and and
tell the story, pass the story along, and we're gonna
be at colleges. You know, we're gonna we're gonna share
the story with the next generation who doesn't know Sean
hasn't heard about this story. And that's really it.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
And if youwers walk away with just one lesson from
after shock, what do you hope it is?
Speaker 3 (37:58):
One lesson for after shock is that that you cannot
let life like take you out. There are things that's
going to happen, and you have to find your way,
find your way to make it through endurance. Resilience is
life like, We're all going to get knocked down at
some point, right and it may not be to this magnitude,
(38:21):
and I pray it's not to this magnitude. But life
is going to come at you and you have to
find your way, whatever your way is, to get over it.
And to when I say get over it, I mean
to get over the hump, not to get you know,
not to move out of the way, but to get
over that hump and push through and and support your people,
(38:43):
like you know, this is we need that support. I'm
thankful for people like many you know, and his team
who are not you know, affiliated with any type of
justice you know, organizations or anything, but he said, hey,
this is something, it's important and we want to get
behind you on this. And I'm just really thankful for that.
(39:05):
And I think everyone needs to find, you know, whatever
your source is, what is your source, and just feed
that and keep going and don't give up.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Absolutely well, definitely check it out this Friday after Shock
and Nicole Pea Bell's story and thank you for sharing
your story.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Thank you great man.
Speaker 4 (39:24):
It's tough, so much, Manny, but it's tough. You definitely
always sending your healing energy, absolutely healing, and Manny, you too.
I'm always praying me and my wife is always praying
for you, Manny. So we love you and thank you
so much for sharing it again. If y'all need anything,
please let us know and thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Theaters everywhere.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
AMC Theaters is select AMC theaters nationwide, so if you
go on fendango dot com you'll see it airs. It
releases November twenty eighth, and then on digital as of
December fifteenth.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
All right, Nicole bell It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning,
you're checking out The Breakfast Club.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Bellie is back for a final season on Peacock and
the It's All Love. Will and Carlton start senior year
and the rest of the fan face new chapters of
their own stream belt air now only on Peacock. This
is the dcre Poppin R and B.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Ninety seven nine w j LB Detroit. You Alexo play
my favorite station, getting
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Ninety seven point nine WJLB station from iHeartRadio.
This morning.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Everybody's j Envy, Jess Hilarius, Charlamagne the God.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
We are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest
in the building.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yes, indeed were having Nicole Bell Welcome, good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Are you feeling this morning?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
I'm feeling great, glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
We got a new movie after Shocked and the Cold
Peep Bell Story. What you're being in theaters November twenty eight.
When you decided to tell this story through film, what
truth did you feel America still didn't understand.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
About what happened to Sean.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I think America doesn't understand what the families really go
through behind the scenes. For me, I was twenty two
years old. Sean was only twenty three when he was killed,
and we had two small daughters. My daughters at the
time were baby girls. So going through the years of
fighting for justice the levels of government, state, trial, federal investigation,
(00:53):
departmental hearings, civil and then reforms. Fighting for reforms that
takes a toll. And as a twenty two year old
young woman surrounded by the nation who supported us, my family,
the community, it was that's what really empowered me to
move forward and what I think a lot of people
(01:14):
need to understand is that many people want to tell
their stories. People want their stories heard, and we don't
really know how what outlet. But I'm blessed to get
a chance to meet people like Manny and give us
the opportunity to put this real life story now on
screens for people to see and see what really happened
behind the scenes.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
If you don't mind, I want to go back a
little bit. Yeah, if you don't mind. And the reason
being is after watching a movie. I'm from Queens, so
you lived it, but you just forget right with everything
going on in the world, you forget the ends, the
outs and the details and you just assume right like
I'm not even gonna lie. I forgot the cops gotta
quit it, like you can forget so many things.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
So hell, it's been over twenty years.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
This year this tomorrow makes nineteen years.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
So for people that don't know the Sean Bell story,
just break it down a little bit. You guys were
high school sweethearts, you were about to get married, and
I'll let you go from.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
So yes, so Sewn and I both went to John
Allen's High School in Ozone Park, Queens. We're from Queen's
South Side, Jamaica, Queens. So we met there. Sean played baseball,
we met, we dated just like everyone else. After school,
Sean went on too Nasville Community College. He played baseball
for a little there. When I graduated, we kind of
(02:38):
went straight into building a family. I was a young
mom and after the birth of my second daughter, Sean
had surprised me with a ring and it was Christmas Day,
all the family, we were all together sitting by the tree.
He had a yeah, give me a shoe box, right,
and I thought, oh, there's another pair of shoes because
(02:59):
he had me she was before. I didn't really like
the shoes that he brought me last time, but he
bought me these shoes and I was like, Okay, we
got another pair of shoes coming. I opened up the
shoe box. Inside the shoe box was a watchbox. I
was like, oh, surprised I got to watch open up
the watchbox. In the watchbox was a ring box. And
that was the day that, you know, we decided to
(03:21):
get married. So we hadn't made any plans. Maybe about
a year or so had passed, and then at that
point our daughters were Jada was three and a half
almost four and Jordan was just born, so she was
about five months old. So sometime in November of six,
early November, he had sat me down. He's like, one
(03:43):
day he came home, He's like, hey, come, let's sit
down and talk. We were living in far Rock Away
at the time, and I was kind of nervous, not
sure what he wanted to talk about, because he wasn't
to come sit down and talk to me, the type
of person it was just like he would say what
it is. But he had talked to his mom, he
had talked to my mom, he had talked to the pastors,
(04:05):
and he had planned the wedding. My best friends knew,
and I was just shocked that I didn't know. No,
I hadn't find out, you know. I was kind of
feeling like, how could y'all keep the secret for me?
That's one of the most stressful things ever what And
he had it, he had the church, he had. The
only thing he couldn't do was get my dress. And
that's what my best friend told me. His mother told me, like,
(04:27):
he was like, you cannot buy her dress for her, y'all.
He gotta let her pick out her dress. So that time,
that point in my life. It was really the happiest
point in my life. And it was two weeks before
the due date. So we had celebrated November twenty third
as our anniversary, and he was like, we're gonna do
it on the twenty fifth. It was the weekend. The
family's gonna fly in. I mean, they had everything together
(04:49):
and I went then. So the eve of the twenty fourth,
I went for my bachelorette party my mom's house. We
did like a little small intimate bridal shower, and then
he went out with some of the guys from the neighborhood.
My brother in law was there and his father museum
And at some point during the night I got a
(05:11):
call it was early morning, like four am at this
point on the wedding day, that something happened and we
needed to get to the hospital.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Now when that happened, breakdown, because the police tried to lie, right,
It was so many different stories, and like I said,
after watching the movie, you go down this rabbit hole
of google, right, and then you start remembering all the
lies that they did and just trying to break his
character and all that. Without going too much because some
of it's in the movie. Some of it's not breakdown
how the family took that, because, hey, you got a
(05:42):
young man that did everything right. He went to school,
he got his degree, he was working, he had a
couple of jobs. But now you got the city or
the police officers trying to break his spirit. So how
did the family feel during that time?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
It was devastating. It was devastating for his parents. It
was devastating for me. I had to to like isolate
myself from like things like social media, and I couldn't
read the comments things like that. It was just kind
of getting out of hand. But it was completely devastating
me because we were like just in shock, you know,
and a lot of pain mentally. And then there were
(06:16):
stories coming out like the fourth man is a fourth man.
They came out right away with that one, and then
it disappeared right away, It went away, and there was
just a whole smear campaign. And I had come to
find out, just by my attorneys and the leaders like
Reverend Sharkton and people who are around me, like this
is what happens when and some people are killed by
(06:38):
police officers every day, which is.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Crazy because you couldn't even grieve. I'm sitting there and
you try and to grieve, you have these young kids,
but then you're trying to protect the name, and it's
like could you evenn grieve during that time?
Speaker 3 (06:52):
So I went straight into getting active and so the
next day we went to a rally. Day after that,
you know, we did a march, and then after the funeral,
it was just like, now it's time to you know,
let people know, shine of light on exactly what's happening.
So no, grieving didn't happen right away, and I would
(07:12):
go home and cry, you know, I'd come out and
you know, make it, you know, look as good as
it needs to be. But behind the scenes, I was
a mess. You know, I was a wreck. And my
family really formed like this barrier around me to protect
me and help me with the girls. They were so young,
and that was really that was the whole program. From
(07:33):
that point on. Everywhere I went, I was kind of
surrounded by somebody who was from the family or someone
who was there to kind of you know, act as like,
all right, if I have to step in help, you know,
we're going to do that. But I tell people all
the time, you know, like there's no specific order in
which you grieve, you know, for me going through this
film and also working on a book, it brings back
(07:55):
every thought, every memory. There's been times when even recently
I've lost sleep and I had to get back into therapy,
you know and speak to a therapist. But I'm so grieving.
I mean, you gotta grieve and keep it moving. And
that's really what That's what it was about back then.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
All we got more with Nicole Bell when we come back,
don't move.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
It's the breakfast club.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Good morning, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 6 (08:34):
Baby.
Speaker 7 (08:34):
I just don't get it. Get enjoy being hurt. I
knowy you smell the perfume to make up o the shirt.
You don't believe his stories. You know, the Pharaoh lieses
bad as you walk stick around And I just don't
know why.
Speaker 8 (08:53):
You know your man, baby, you wor me about what
I do. I because in pot back to you.
Speaker 6 (09:01):
Every night, doing you right.
Speaker 8 (09:04):
It's like a Wama surf good thing this fanandama head
for the brain me yourself.
Speaker 7 (09:10):
I just want to show you you are you should
let me love you.
Speaker 9 (09:15):
Let T be the one give you heavything you for
canny a heavy good love projection, take me.
Speaker 7 (09:26):
Your selection, show you the we love suppose should.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Be baby, you should let me love mourning. Everybody is
ej env just Hilarius, Charlamagne.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
And the God. We are the Breakfast Club. We're still
kicking it with Nicole Bell.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Nicole Bell, who is Sewing Bell's wife, has a movie
coming out this Friday called after Shock. Now, Sean Bell
was shot fifty times, shot at fifty times. He was
killed by police officers as he was leaving his bachelor party.
He was supposed to get married the next day he
was killed.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
Charlomagne, how did your understanding of grief change over the years,
Like once the cameras disappeared and life just kept moving.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, yeah, so you know it's like we're living this.
You know, once the cameras leave and the smoke clears,
this is still my life. This is still I still
have to find a way to take care of my daughters.
I still have to find a way to work. I
still have to find a way to you know, keep
this memory alive and do all these things at the
same time. So, I mean my understanding of it was,
(10:28):
you know, we just got to keep it moving. I
have to keep going forward, Like I don't know where
this is going, but I know I'm going to keep
pushing forward and I know eventually we'll get somewhere. And
that's all it was for me, is just keep going,
like I can't think about what's going to happen next month,
but I'm going to take it one day at a time.
And that's really what it's about. It's just pushing forward.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
I would what was something people assume gets easier with
time but actually becoming more difficult.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
I think even this, you know, this conversation here, Yeah,
I think people think you know that, hey, you know,
maybe you're far removed from it by now, but it's
it's an ongoing thing. Like I just recently, I was
on the phone with my therapist just balling, you know,
like you know, we everyone you know, thinks of this
(11:15):
whole term, like you know, being strong, and you know,
but there's so many ways to look at, you know,
how what that means, and so we get blinded by it,
like I have to be strong, I have to be strong,
but strong is like just one day. Strong might be
just getting out of bed one day. The next day,
strong might be sitting here on a radio station. It
looks different, and to me, that's the way I identify
(11:36):
what like moving forward is and how grief works. There's
no specific order in which that happens and how it comes.
So I mean, and then my daughters, you know, I
can't be far removed from it because my girls are
every day, you know, a part of him. And my
daughters they deal with it in different ways, you know,
(11:56):
from when they were younger, and you know.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Till now, I was that raising those those young queens
because I remember when it happened, right, my dad, who
was a retired police officer, did not want me out right,
he already didn't want me out. Yeah, you know, it
was always like you got to come home, you got
to drive, and the streets during that time was real dangerous.
So I could imagine the anxiety of every day your
daughter just wanting to leave, to go anywhere.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
So how was that?
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Absolutely? I mean, there were talks that you know, if
there's ever you know, if you're ever approached, you know
by a police officer, like remain calm, just you know,
let me handle that. You know, you get as much
information as you can and let me handle that. But
it was terrifying for one, but not just for them,
you know, for for anyone. I loved you know, I
was worried about my dad. I was worried about you know,
(12:46):
my brother in laws, the men in my life. You know,
just not sure about what's going to happen. But it
was bad back then, and people who supported us were targeted,
you know after, you know, for supporting us. I learned
that from you know, elected officials. I learned that from
artists who support us. And it was bad. It was
really bad, and that was so important. That's why it
(13:07):
was so important for me to show people the human side,
like this is who we are, this is who he was,
and this is the family and that's still what it
is even till this day.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
Say what parts of Sean's life and characters did you
want this film to reclaim from, like all the media natas.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
So I need people just to know that, you know,
Sean was just like you know, you and you DJ
Mby Like he was a person who like loved his woman,
he loved his family, he loved his mom, his dad.
He wasn't a person who had many close friends. The
friends that he was very selective about who he considered
his friends and the ones who were you know, his friends.
(13:52):
He would take care of him on his bachelor party night,
he was driving his friends, like he was driving the
guys from the neighborhood in my car. So this is
who Sean was. He wasn't you know, a person that's like,
you know, just not you know, or I guess what
(14:13):
the narrative was being pushed out at some points. If
it wasn't for the family, and if it wasn't for
like the advocates and everyone who stood up, like, I
don't know what the image would have been. But for us,
it was important to just show people who he was, like,
this is who he is. He worked, he had jobs,
you know, he he loved to surprise me, like he
(14:34):
had planned a surprise wedding all by himself and pulled
in the family. He this is who he was. This
was the guy was, And it was just made into
this big, you know thing because there were fifty shots
fired by the police officers. That's really at the bottom line,
that's what it was. It was the fifty shots that
were fired by the police officers on our wedding day,
and that was how big it was. That was that
(14:57):
was what made it like sensationalized. But Sean was just
like you and me, Like he was just like any
other person. There was nothing any different, and he was
human like he was a human. He wasn't just a hashtag,
he wasn't just a name. You know. That's you know,
it's not just a headline. It's a family behind us,
and it's a family's grieving.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
What made you come up with the title? After shot?
Speaker 3 (15:21):
That's production. I don't think. I didn't really care about it. Yeah,
I just.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Found an interesting Like, you know, I wanted to know,
why was it important for you to tell that story,
like the years long impact of the trauma, because I
think that's something that people.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Don't think about.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yeah, well that that itself, absolutely, that is a thing.
And that was part of the reason why I wanted
to push forward with the project is because I think
the movie shows a timeframe of like six to twenty
twenty one, and that's a huge part of my life,
you know, And it's it's it's almost two decades that
(15:57):
we're talking about of trying to keep his memory alive.
But these families have gone through every day. Like there's
so many families like mine, and I know them, and
I just hope that this project will like encourage other
families to tell your stories. There's other ways that we
can get the word out. There's other ways that we
can show people, like we didn't receive the justice that
(16:19):
we were looking for, and really accountability would have been
that in this case, I mean, justice would have been
him still being here. But accountability is what we were
looking for. So this is us holding them accountable.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I wanted to know, like when they were acquitted, did
any of those officers apologize?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
There was a public statement that was issued, It wasn't
really directed towards me in the during the court room.
It was very like blatant that you know, they weren't
willing to apologize. After they were acquitted, there was like
a public statement at their press conference, but that was it.
It was nothing personal.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Do we know what happened to those offices? Did they
lose their jobs? Do we know did they get shipped
to another priest? Do we know at all or not?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
So?
Speaker 3 (17:04):
The the officer who followed who fired the initial shots,
he was terminated. The rest of them, I believe they
were allowed to retire with benefits.
Speaker 9 (17:13):
Wo.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Yeah, So I don't know where their life is at
this point, and you know, really I just hope that
they understand, like the weight of what they left behind
and what their actions did that night, and how generally, generationally,
how that affects not just me, not just mister and
missus Bell. But we're now, you know, raising my kids
(17:35):
in that, and I'm just My goal was to make
them strong, make them normal, normal girls you know who
can blend in. And I'm blessed to be able to
say that's the case today. You know, my oldest daughter,
she's like doing her thing, working and has her own apartment.
Jordan's at Howard University, and they're just independent young women.
(17:56):
And I'm so proud. They're like my best friends. They
keep me strong when I feel weak, and vice versa.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
We got more with Nicole Bell when we come back.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Don't move. It's the breakfast club. Good morning.
Speaker 10 (18:10):
Up, it's seven pm, frid joke, it's ninety five degree.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
I ain't got no and no, ain't got beat us go.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
I'm about to.
Speaker 10 (18:19):
Show my fuck this love freak how to stitch your man.
If he right here with me, he turned up with
my he turned up with my ain't turned up in
my shoulders. Say, because I've got that big sixty thousand
fans came see me do my team got a million
and one haters, and then y'all can kiss my.
Speaker 6 (18:40):
Turned up with my turned up with my I ain't
turned up in.
Speaker 10 (18:44):
My shoulders, shay, because right here women came off a
fifth a head kid up with my twist got him
back going full of sock and a bankront full of beans.
All that Twitter typing sing me ain't doing nothing, crapped
out put some bikers shoulders.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
I'm showing up my most.
Speaker 9 (19:00):
No, I'm feeling good to like I'm outside.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Which wanting everybody's dj Envy, Jess, Hilarius, Charlamagne to God.
We are the breakfast Club. We're still kicking it with
Nicole Bell. Nicole Bell, who was Sewn Bell's wife, has
a movie coming out this Friday called After Shock Now.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Sean Bell was.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Shot fifty times, shot at fifty times. He was killed
by police officers as he was leaving his bachelor party.
He was supposed to get married the next day and
he was killed. One thing that bothered, especially the community
and queens, was that when it first happened, people automatically
thought there was going to be a bunch of white
cops and it was racist, right, there was a bunch
of it was I think one white cop and it
was minorities.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Yeah, how did that feel?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Because you know, you really want to feel like at
least somebody that looks like me understands, right, how did
that feel during that time?
Speaker 1 (19:44):
And was that a thing back then?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And yeah, that was insane? And I think I even
heard that, you know, people like, well, how did you
know it was cops? They were you know, they were white? Like, Okay, guys,
y'all got to pay attention to read the story. This
is not that's not what happened because growing up in
South Jamaica, queens like you know about stopping first. You
see that, you see detectives jumping out on people. You
see you know, the marked cars. You know what the
(20:06):
culture was back then, So we're all aware of it.
We're hyper. Like when he arrived at the bachelor party,
he was pulled over by blue and white, a marked car.
He wasn't even given a ticket. I found out this
information during the trial. I didn't even know that. So
when he was parking to get to the bachelor party,
he was pulled over, they didn't eve give him a ticket.
(20:27):
They just already have a good day. Why'd you stop him?
When he was leaving, he was encountered by the cop
who was at the club under you know, investigating the club.
So it was just the community in itself was policed
in a way that just wasn't there to protect, you know,
the people who are from the neighborhood, the people who
(20:47):
live here, like we go to school here, we work
our jobs here in the neighborhood was shot up. There
were homes that were shot, you know, fifty shots. One
went into the air train above ed make a station,
and nobody was held accountable for that. And that's really
part of the reason that fuels me because with all
that devastation, what was the outcome? And you know, and
(21:15):
I don't know what's going to come next, but all
I know is, you know, just the same message. We're
going to keep pushing forward. There are so many victims
who need to be encouraged to tell their stories, and
they want to be encouraged to tell their stories. They
don't they're not sure how. And I just hope that,
you know, this project makes everybody proud.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
And I want to go back to your daughters, like
how did you protect your daughter's emotional world while the
country was just discussing your family is just a political case.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Yeah, because they were watching Disney and Nickelodeon. They were
doing what kids do. They were going to dance school,
they were you know, playing sports. They were not involved
in that. And when they were small, I would take
them to the rallies and stuff. But once they were
old enough to kind of articulate what's going on, you know,
would make sure they were either with Grandma or they
were you know, busy doing something else, and just kept
(22:02):
them focused on what do you want to do? Like,
what do you what do you want to become? We're
going to make you the you know, the best. You know,
whatever it is you want to do, hair, you want
to do, make it, whatever it is you want to
become a lawyer, You're going to be the best at it.
And I think that's where my with my girls, it
was just important that I keep them normal, like, you know,
don't I don't read the comments, So I'm not going
(22:24):
to introduce them, you.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Know what about now because when the movie comes out, yeah,
you know, start that whole conversation all over.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
So we we we do a lot in private. You know,
we we are very tight. We are very close. My
girls are very close to his parents. We we keep it,
you know, really tight. So we've watched it together in private,
and my girls had a lot of questions and there
were things that they didn't even know that after watching it,
(22:52):
you know, I'll get calls like, hey, mom, what did
this mean? You know, what was that about? And I can,
you know, just remember being twenty two and losing him
and thinking like, oh my god, how am I going
to explain this to them one day? And the one
day is here, and now I'm here and we're having
these deep conversations. But now I'm ready to have the
(23:14):
conversations because if I had tried to do this nineteen
years ago, I don't think I would have made it.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
You didn't You didn't even have an understanding of it.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Absolutely, I did not have an understanding of it. Now,
even though the grief, you know, is still there and
I'm working with a therapist and you know, we're we're
dealing with the reality of it. It is. It's just
a matter of it being like a story that is
important to our culture. It's important to our history, and
(23:44):
long after I'm gone, after Shock is going to be here.
And that's what my goal is, Just to create something
that will last and you know we can, you know,
we can hope that you know, this will make history.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Who stood up for you back then.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
You know, we've seen red now and we heard about
jay Z who stood up for the community back then
when you needed it the most. Right, you support people,
you support local people who stood up for you during
that time.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Anybody.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I mean during that time, there was like you said,
Rever Now, there was a lot of people at Nan.
National Action Network was a big deal everyone, you know,
in my community, there were a lot of elect every
elected official you could think of, like some of my
friends now who are now in politics, like the Queensborough
(24:33):
President Donovan Richards, and people like Tamika Mallory from Nan. Yeah,
and these are the people now, right, who are who've
come from that Sean bell era and who marched like
under Reverend now Sharpton, and now they're the leaders of
the time and saying hey, this is what we need
to do because this is what happened in the past.
So those are some of the people I mean even
(24:55):
right now, like Angela Ride that's my girl. I could
text Angela right now and she'll give me some you know,
great advice or like hey, Nicole you need to check this.
You know, my attorney, you know, like female black female attorneys.
I'm surrounded by wonderful people that I can call when
I'm in need. And I think back then it was
(25:18):
the same. You know, there wasn't much of the female presence.
It was more of like the politicians. It was like
the revenue Sharpton. But I think everyone recognized that. That's
that's why you've had like the Mother's Movement who came out.
Everyone recognized that, right, Sabrina Fulton and Green Carr, Eric
Garner's mother, like the movements that came from it, because
(25:41):
it was more of like, this is a political thing,
and it was like, oh, how is it political? You know,
we're not politicians, but you know, because of the you know,
the police officers, they deemed it as political. But I
think the most magnificent thing of that is that all
of the lives that were affected back then and all
the greatness that came from it, all of everyone whose
(26:02):
lives were affected said hey, you know, because of what
happened to Sean, that's the reason why I became this
and that means a lot to me.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
JD did start a trust fund.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Right he did, Yes, he did, Yeah, college fund for
my girls.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Yeah that was that was back in eight Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
Is there a moment public are private that best represents
the emotional after shock of losing Sean.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Public or private? I think that first ever march that
happened in six down Fifth Avenue, it was massive, right.
I didn't even know the gravity of how many people
were affected by it. I thought it was just us.
(26:53):
And then that first ever march that I attended down
Fifth Avenue, it was crazy. I mean we were ending
the march miles down and we could see all the
way back the streets would filled with people. People were outraged.
They were outraged like it was their family member. And
(27:16):
I think that's what moved me to say, oh wow,
I'm not alone here. I felt like I was on
an island, like there was no one who could ever
relate to what I had gone through losing him on
my wedding day in that way. But even though you know,
these people didn't lose him that way, everyone was affected,
everyone was outraged, and then still there was no justice.
(27:39):
And I think that's also a part that defines, you know,
what we're dealing with here, is that no matter how
the amount of people, the amount of outrage, the the
amount of shots. There was still no conviction there. And
you know what are we going to do with that?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
More with Nicold Bell showing Bell's wife when we come back,
it's the breakfast Club.
Speaker 6 (28:04):
Good morning, you silly read and that's gotta lead. Your
(28:35):
back went up a lacking think about it. Since I
saying you least I know I didn't have to walk away.
All I had to do was ask for space.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
I'm telling you beyond you way.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
When I told Judah far back, So can you come
back up? Yoga? No beketu compack yo coat.
Speaker 7 (29:24):
Morning.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
Everybody is the DJ Envy Jess, Hilarius, Charlamagne de God.
We are the breakfast Club. We're still kicking it with
Nicole Bell. Nicole Bell, who is Sean Bell's wife, has
a movie coming out this Friday called After Shock. Now,
Sean Bell was shot fifty times, shot at fifty times.
He was killed by police officers as he was leaving
his bachelor party. He was supposed to get married the
next day and he was killed. Me ask about the Cobs, Yeah,
(29:48):
I remember.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Do you believe in the system? After after that, I.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Lost my faith in the system. At I'm be honest
with you, I really did. And now you see fam
since then who've gone through similar things, and it's the
steps that we have to take as family members, and
you got to go through these measures just to get somewhere.
And it's just like we're walking down the same line.
Everyone's walking down the same line looking for a different outcome.
(30:15):
And listen, you know, I sat back and kind of watched,
you know, the families go through this. It's painful for
everyone to think, you know, okay, this is it, this
is the time, and then it's the same outcome. We're
just watching this whole thing just over and over, just
like a vicious cycle. And for me, I mean, Zora
(30:36):
Neil Hurston said, if you don't talk about your pain,
they'll kill you and think and say you enjoyed it.
And that's what aftershock is about. We're talking about our
pain here. And there's so many people who are in pain,
and people who down the line in future might be
in pain. But this is the story for all of us.
Speaker 4 (30:58):
How did advocating for justice reshape your identity as a woman,
a mother, and a leader?
Speaker 3 (31:04):
How did advocate for justice so I feel that it
empowered me it defined you know, who I am. It
really helped kind of give me that strength to push
me forward. I learned a lot about myself. I learned
a lot about our community. But advocacy, it's just a
never ending thing. It's not something that you can do
(31:27):
and turn it off, you know. It's there's always something
to advocate for it, there's always something that needs change.
So I feel that it's the advocacy in itself. It
kind of defined me as a woman, and it made
me feel really like badass.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Really, yeah, I was gonna say, what message did you
want to send it to the world by forgiven the police
officers that shot or did you even forgive me?
Speaker 3 (31:54):
I was going to actually, would you read that?
Speaker 1 (31:59):
I'm sorry? Did you?
Speaker 3 (32:00):
I was gonna ask you, where did you see that?
So I don't think I've reached that place because I
was there and I've witnessed them in real time how
they felt and like during the trial, how they would
pass notes and make jokes. This was like almost like
(32:21):
a board game, you know, And we were devastated, you know,
And it takes a lot to say I am forgiven.
I have to keep it real with y'all. And I
have to. I have to always keep it real. I
haven't forgave. I can say I'm at peace, but no,
I haven't forgiven.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I'm not a forgiving person either. Certain things I just
don't understand. And try to talk to you, but it's
just certain things I just can't forgive.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
And yeah, if I had, maybe, if I had maybe
picked up a hint of remorse somewhere, maybe, but I didn't,
So I can't put that on them if that's not
how they feel. And that's okay, because you know, I'll
find my way and my girls will be We're gonna
you know, we're gonna make it. We're gonna be strong.
We're gonna support his mom, we're gonna support his dad.
(33:08):
Like where we're gonna be. You know, we're gonna be okay.
But as far as forgiveness, now, my therapist.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
Told me last week, you know, if somebody has done
you wrong and you feel like they've harmed you, it
is perfectly healthy to.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Say and that's it.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
I love that therapist. No, that's how I feel.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
That's that's an emotion, that's your feeling. Who is who
are you now compared to who you were before? November
twenty five, two thousand.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Oh man, who am I now compared to her? I mean,
right now, it's wow. I mean, I don't know if
I can find the words for it, but I think
there's really I feel unstoppable. I'm gonna be honest with you.
I feel like this is something that has prepared me
(33:59):
for a life I never had planned. I was just
looking forward to getting married to Sean, and you know,
the love that we have for each other, the love
he had for our girls, that's really what fueled me.
And when they took that from me, it was it
was extremely personal, you know that they did this, and
(34:21):
it kind of made me look at you know, life differently,
Absolutely look at life differently, cherishing you know, our loved ones,
loving on everybody around you, appreciating life Like I'm not
a person who complains a lot. I'm not a person
who takes things for granted. I found the greatness in
everything and losing Sean, the struggle that we had, all
(34:43):
of that has made me this person.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
Now, why and when did you decide to do this movie? Like?
What was the thing that like? It's time now?
Speaker 3 (34:52):
So I met Manny Halle back in twenty seventeen and
I had a conversation with him that he had. My
mom was with me. Let me for wine a little bit,
so my mom was with me. My mom was like,
you know, she's my biggest champion. So she was like, okay,
this is this the director, Oh, hey, you ever thought
about doing a movie about Nicole? A movie about Sean?
(35:13):
We went to a premiere, one of his premieres. Sorry
I forgot to leave that got to say that. So
we met Manny. My mom was like, you know, on him, like, hey,
you know, you ever thought about doing this? And was
like you know, maybe you know, I don't think.
Speaker 6 (35:27):
He really knew who we were or whatever.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
But down the line we had more conversations. We talked
a little bit more, and then production kind of came
up with an idea of like, okay, how can we
do this. Let's figure out how to the best way
to make this happen. For me, it was always about
telling the story. You know, I don't know about the
creativity side of it. That's not I'm not in entertainment,
that's not my field. But I have a story and
(35:51):
it's a story that affected a lot of people, and
it's a story that's gonna change lives and if there's
a way that we can get this out there, let's
do it. So as far as the time, I feel
like the best time is now, not only because of
what we're going through in the community, but just because
me personally mentally, I wasn't in a space to be
(36:11):
able to make a movie. Years ago. I was raising
two little girls, I was mourning, going through depression PTSD.
I couldn't do a movie. How could I find the time?
So now it's been almost twenty years, I'm able to
talk about this without the tears. I'm able to you know,
find the therapy. I'm able to talk to my girls
(36:33):
and mentor them and their independent women exactly. You know
what I pray for. Now's the time. It's no better
time than do it right now.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
How can people honor Sean's story in a way that
leads to action, not just them.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
So in a way that leads to action. So we
need we need everyone to one go out and vote
for your local elections and your local elections, like, do
what you can do your part. You know, personally, this
is you know, something that we all have to continue
to to shine the light on, you know, whether it's
his story or it's you know, an injustice that you
(37:07):
know of in your area, Like, let's support each other,
join an organization. If you don't see an organization that
that resonates with you, start an organization. There are many
things that you can do to advocate, and it doesn't
always have to be just in Shawn's name, but get
be a part of some kind of movement. Get out there,
be a part of a movement. And you know, for us,
(37:28):
there there aren't any more legal, you know, measures that
I can take. I've exhausted those. So this is the
next step for me. And I want everybody to get
out there and go see it, you know, and and
tell the story, pass the story along, and we're gonna
be at colleges. You know, we're gonna we're gonna share
the story with the next generation who doesn't know Sean
hasn't heard about this story. And that's really it.
Speaker 4 (37:53):
And if youwers walk away with just one lesson from
after shock, what do you hope it is?
Speaker 3 (37:58):
One lesson for after shock is that that you cannot
let life like take you out. There are things that's
going to happen, and you have to find your way,
find your way to make it through endurance. Resilience is
life like, We're all going to get knocked down at
some point, right and it may not be to this magnitude,
(38:21):
and I pray it's not to this magnitude. But life
is going to come at you and you have to
find your way, whatever your way is, to get over it.
And to when I say get over it, I mean
to get over the hump, not to get you know,
not to move out of the way, but to get
over that hump and push through and and support your people,
(38:43):
like you know, this is we need that support. I'm
thankful for people like many you know, and his team
who are not you know, affiliated with any type of
justice you know, organizations or anything, but he said, hey,
this is something, it's important and we want to get
behind you on this. And I'm just really thankful for that.
(39:05):
And I think everyone needs to find, you know, whatever
your source is, what is your source, and just feed
that and keep going and don't give up.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
Absolutely well, definitely check it out this Friday after Shock
and Nicole Pea Bell's story and thank you for sharing
your story.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
Thank you great man.
Speaker 4 (39:24):
It's tough, so much, Manny, but it's tough. You definitely
always sending your healing energy, absolutely healing, and Manny, you too.
I'm always praying me and my wife is always praying
for you, Manny. So we love you and thank you
so much for sharing it again. If y'all need anything,
please let us know and thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Theaters everywhere.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
AMC Theaters is select AMC theaters nationwide, so if you
go on fendango dot com you'll see it airs. It
releases November twenty eighth, and then on digital as of
December fifteenth.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
All right, Nicole bell It's The Breakfast Club. Good morning,
you're checking out The Breakfast Club.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Bellie is back for a final season on Peacock and
the It's All Love. Will and Carlton start senior year
and the rest of the fan face new chapters of
their own stream belt air now only on Peacock. This
is the dcre Poppin R and B.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Ninety seven nine w j LB Detroit. You Alexo play
my favorite station, getting
Speaker 2 (40:16):
Ninety seven point nine WJLB station from iHeartRadio.
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