2.23 miles
Ahmaud Arbery would have been 26 today.
When I first heard about his murder, I was lying down and distracted. It reached my ears from the conversation around me that there had been another killing of another undeserving black victim. Still horizontal, I assumed it was police brutality. I was wrong. Ahmaud was chased, shot, and killed by two white supremacists in Georgia, father and son. It happened in February…three whole months ago. Unease buzzed at my core like television static.
Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael were arrested for felony murder just yesterday. Their accomplice, William Bryan, has yet to be charged. Activists worldwide assembled to call for justice for Ahmaud Arbery and his family, to rally together, to demand answers. As the protests continue, video footage of the tragedy is being shared and reshared over again. Ahmaud Arbery deserves better than to be immortalized in trauma porn. You don’t need to share the video to know this story; injustice is an American classic. Systematic oppression and the racism which drives it are centuries old, as old as the cries against this violence and as old as the public displaying of it.
Of all the hashtags on social media, the one that hurt most to read came from my little brother on Instagram. After other posts and shares on his story about the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery, he wrote “#thiscouldhavebeenmeoryou.”
His birthdays have always terrified me. As he gets older, he approaches the gaping ravine that is black adulthood in America and every year we are told to celebrate. I don’t know what to feel on birthdays. I feel like mourning, I feel blessed. I have little comfort to provide for my little brother or for myself because I do not want to make false promises. Entire worlds are governed against our favor, entire industries feed off of our despondence and insecurities. Some days, I feel hopeless.
Today, #RunwithMaud. Wear white. Honor his memory. Know that it is okay to feel however you feel. Know that your voice can wield power, a drop in an ocean that may sway the tides. Know that your contributions can make waves that are larger than any of us.
Visit runwithmaud.com for more details on this weekend of action. Visit naacp.org to take further action.
Rest in Peace, Ahmaud Arbery.