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| BREAKING NEWS: Georgia police on Thursday arrested a white father and son and charged them with murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man whose death in February has recently attracted widespread outrage. Much of that anger has been focused on the fact that no charges had been brought against the father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, ages 64 and 34. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that both men had been taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault in addition to murder. Travis fired the shots that killed Mr. Arbery, the state police agency said in a statement. —The New York Times, May 7, 2020, 8:26 p.m. ET |
MIB 1997
Running black man
gets to be
a secret agent
who fights aliens
and protects Earth.
MIB 2020
Running black man
becomes
a victim of
lawless and
senseless violence
before he lives
long enough
to become
who he could
and should
have been.
MIB 2053 (Proposed Sequel)
Anyone can run
down any street
anywhere
anytime
without being afraid of
anybody
and remain
alive and free
to become and do
anything.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: For Ahmaud Arbery, killed in my state on February 23, 2020.
Michael L. Ruffin is a writer, editor, preacher, and teacher living and working in Georgia. He posts poems on Instagram (@michaell.ruffin) and prose opinions at On the Jericho Road. He is author of Fifty-Seven: A Memoir of Death and Life and of the forthcoming Praying with Matthew. His poetry has appeared at TheNewVerse.News and is forthcoming in 3 Moon Magazine and Rat's Ass Review.