It’s not enough and it will never be enough. But here I am, YET AGAIN, at a loss for words over the tragic murder of an African American citizen, cut down in his prime, simply for being Black. I am Exhausted. I am Sick. And I am Angry. But more than that, I am tired of being exhausted, sick and angry. It’s been 401 years. Is that understood?
FOUR HUNDRED AND ONE YEARS. In 1619, Dutch traders brought the first kidnapped African people to the colonies and forced them into slavery. In 1619 our humanity was sacrificed at the altar of hate, ignorance and a false belief in the supremacy of whiteness. A false belief that fostered the most heinous and unGodliness known to mankind.
And now, AGAIN, in 2020, 401 years after the arrival of the first ships filled with kidnapped Africans forced into slavery. Ahmaud Arbery, another innocent man of African descent, joins a long list of black people who have been hunted and murdered simply for being black. We have said, “Stop killing us” but that doesn’t work. We have said, “Stop seeing our skin as criminal” but that doesn’t work. And running in his honor will not work.
But I’m going to say it anyway. Stop killing us. Stop seeing our skin as criminal. And I’m going to run. I’m going to finish his run, in his honor, with my black body, foot to pavement, step by step, bound by bound. And hope against history that one day it will NOT BE LIKE THIS ANYMORE.
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