Interview with Andrea “Dre” Hollingsworth
Alex: Hello. Many of us have seen the videos. Wow. We can see it was clearly a very traumatic experience for you and your two children, and family. Are you doing ok? Have you gotten support so far?
Dre: I’m doing ok, but, as a mother, it’s harder to be strong in front of my children. My children keep asking things like “That’s how they do things?” and it’s difficult. But I’m blessed to have a lot of the Deaf community including the hearing community’s support by standing up for us. I feel inspired.
Alex: I did an interview with a lawyer from New York City, Andrew Rozynski, who says he has experience suing the police related to ADA violations and he told me that what happened is a clear violation of the ADA. You cannot use children as interpreters. Can you share if you plan to take legal action against the North Las Vegas Police Department?
Dre: I’ve been in touch with NAD, yes. They’re in the process of trying to reach other lawyers. I’m not sure if NAD will contact Las Vegas. I hope it will be a smooth process, because I’m ready to sue. I feel… Blessed to have those people notice this, get involved, and support us in our decision to sue.
Alex: Why did you decide to go live? Did you feel something would happen? Can you explain?
Dre: The funny thing is, once they drove by... They were taking sharp turns and I felt something was off. So they flashed their flashlights through the window and spoke to me. I couldn’t understand them so I rolled down my window to tell them I can’t hear so they wouldn't feel threatened. Some people refuse to. I was courteous but they continued speaking and I felt funny because of what happened with George Floyd… Don’t get me wrong, I know I’m a mother, but I’m gay, and I look like a boy. I didn’t know how they might act towards me, so I saved my life by filming it and going live. It freaked me out. Really, I was full of adrenaline because I was thinking of my kids. I had to be prepared. If something happened to me, the proof would be on Facebook Live and it can’t be hidden. That’s why I did it, to play it safe.
Alex: Do you think the officer treated you differently because you’re a Black person and a Black mother? If you were white, do you think the police would have behaved differently?
Dre: Yes. Definitely. Look at the world now. The police officers give a lot of mistreatment to Black people, so I feel the same, too. And even as a Deaf person. Maybe they would assume and not want to provide an interpreter because they think I’m pretending. They already knew once my daughter said I’m Deaf, but they brushed that aside. That’s it. They looked down on me as a Black Deaf mother. Period. End of discussion.
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Alex: Do you wish the police used a paper or phone? Would you be okay with that?
Dre: Yes, either way, or they could speak into my phone with voice recognition technology. They refused, so I wasn’t sure. I didn’t trust them, what if they wanted to take my phone without doing live… so I kept it because they didn’t cooperate with me, so I went on live.
Alex: Any more comments you want to share? Anything?
Dre: Honestly, I just want to say thank you to all the people who donated to us to help us get back on our feet and to sue. Thank you, because I never expected to feel love by that, and also I hope the NAD sues that police department so they can change for the better with better training and interaction with deaf people, because Las Vegas has a big deaf community there too, so. I value the Deaf community so I don’t want others to experience what happened to me. Enough is enough.
Previous Coverage and GoFundMe Info: https://www.dailymoth.com/blog/police-officers-handcuff-black-deaf-mother-forces-twin-coda-daughters-to-interpret