I would like to say that my decision when choosing some of these poems was purely coincidental. I choose some of these poems a month in advance, after all. But it’s not coincidence; it’s just a sad fact of this country. Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo were both stripped of a future by police officers who shouldn’t have held the position in the first place.
We can talk all we want. We can protest all we want. We can petition and march. Call for defunding and write our senators. But it’s still disheartening to watch the news when another unarmed citizen is gunned down by a police officer.
When politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert either supported the death of fellow members of congress or tweeted the locations of prominent leaders during an insurrection, it’s hard to trust our leaders. It’s difficult to see that justice will be served when so many people of color have been slain and their murderers walk free and sign book deals.
We continue to hear the excuses and justifications for these murdered individuals. We watch as they are demonized and their killers sainted in the media. And all we can do is continue on, march, protest, petition, and hold them accountable.
For nineteenth poem, I have chosen “A Statement from No One, Incorporated” by Justin Phillip Reed.
Chapin City Blues 