In the voices of America’s Blacks

Ahmaud, You died as a martyr
in the war over racial equality
You were an undrafted soldier
You were destined to be a casualty

Your murder was lynching by a mob
who saw you not as a human being
but as an object called “Black Man”
Your jogging was seen as fleeing

Your only crime was being Black
deemed guilty the day You were borne
proving your innocence is no small feat
people don’t see the rose, only thorn

The trial almost didn’t happen
Two prosecutors didn’t see any crime
Killing of an unarmed Black man was legit
Charge- being in wrong place at wrong time!

At the trial, defense attorneys poked
at jury repeatedly to gain sympathy
by bringing up the old tropes of racism
In their eyes, You deserved no empathy

Is wearing khaki shorts & no socks,
having long, dirty toenails a crime?
It’s not; but it is an apt dog whistle
used through history, time after time

Shame on counsels for stooping low
Not having any sensible defense,
fell back on proven racial epithets –
true or not, sense or non-sense

Police, who sided with the murderers,
are sworn to serve and protect all
Their lens only sees “Black” or “White”,
Blacks presumed to be guilty as a vassal

Police didn’t arrest murderers right away,
Left them to go their own merry ways
Founding fathers saw Blacks as property,
Summarily condemned as criminals, now a days

Video of shooting made all the difference
without it, narrative was a page from history
Ironically, video was leaked by a defendant
Hoping to buttress their side of the story!

Murderers tried to take shelter behind a
Civil war era law -Citizen’s arrest for
“reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion”
Kudos to the prosecutor for shutting that door

Imagine if the roles were reversed
Three Black men kill a white man!
All hell would have broken loose; Blacks
tried, convicted & imprisoned in a short span

Sadly, Your murder will not be the last one
Police will find some other Black man to shoot at
Historical role as slave catchers isn’t easy to reform
Police’s bias towards Blacks, very hard to combat

A point doesn’t make a trend, an aberration
Let’s celebrate, yet hold our applause
The almost white jury deserves thanks
and merits our nod for upholding laws

The anguish is not over by any stretch
The conviction will certainly be appealed
A good has already come out of the tragedy
Georgia’s Citizen’s Arrest law got repealed!

We will take a victory however small!

Let’s proclaim in one loud and strong voice (paraphrasing Dr. King’s words):
“We have a dream that one day our Black brothers and sisters will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Ahmaud Arbery, may Your soul and that of George Floyd, and others who were murdered by police, rest in peace.

God bless America, a country we love.

Hoping one day America will return the favor!
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