Preserved by Purpose: Black Lives Still Matter

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May 18, 2020

By Shewanda Riley

This week, I’m revisiting the words I wrote about 6 years about the shooting of unarmed Black men.

I’m writing this column with the same emotions that many of you may have been feeling recently: shock, disgust, disappointment, anxiety, fear, anger, frustration and hopelessness in response to the lack of accountability in the repeated killings of unarmed African Americans by armed white men whether they be civilians or police officers.

However, if all that is done is protesting by forwarding a video clip or jogging 2.23 miles without following it up with more strategic actions, the emotions are a temporary distraction that do not lead to long term sustained change.

Ahmaud Arbery is now part of a long list of African American men shot down in the prime of their lives.

Each of these names represents more than just the loss of a life of African American men killed for seemingly no reason by armed white men.