![]() He was always thinking about his family and how he could help people. I would always be like, Well, I guess I’m making this dish for all these people then. He’d be telling all his friends, “Look, my mom makes the best seafood salad,” and tell them I’d make it for them before he’d even tell me. There was this seafood salad he loved too. And I used to be like, I can’t believe this boy is coming all the way over here just for this sandwich. He used to come over the house and ask me to make him his favorite sandwich: turkey and bacon on potato bread. I was already thinking about all the food and drinks I’d get. I was looking forward to planning a party because it was a big deal for him. Slowly.ĭale’s 30th birthday was hard for me. I’d remember the panic attack, the crying, the heartache, the shock. I’d relive the moment I received the call from my relative in New York telling me Amadou was dead. It’s as if for the whole day, I’d just stop breathing. Every year I always wish February 4 would never come. Those moments are the hardest because I have no choice. When I look at my other sons, when I hear their voice, see their smile, I see Amadou. There’s always an empty seat at our dining table now. I would watch him with them and was so proud of the man he was becoming. Being a child of separation, he took ownership and responsibility in the house, telling his siblings what to do. As the firstborn, he was the leader at home too. He’d always be reading his newspapers, always curious about religions, and loved chakery (a traditional dish with couscous and yogurt) and jollof rice. No, no, there.” He was such a leader, like an old, wise man. It wasn’t like he played any of them, but you’d see him outside with his friends coaching them. He used to love watching all those sports back then-the basketball, the soccer World Cups. Last year alone, 24% of people whose deaths occurred in the presence or at the hands of police were Black, though roughly 13% of the population is Black. In the last decade, roughly 8,000 people of color had fatal encounters with police, more than half of them Black men. They heard Floyd’s cries as a charge to continue fighting for police accountability and protesting the senseless deaths of Black and brown men and women disproportionately killed by officers-killings no longer shocking in America, with its racist criminal-justice system and public policies. Some of the mothers, wishing they could have protected their children from such cruelty, wondered if their sons, too, called out for them with their last breaths. The survivors bear the burden for a lifetime. When the tragedy is not our own, we can turn the television off, log out of Twitter and Instagram, and walk away, perhaps shaking our heads in disgust. He made the longing appeal a child invokes for all the things “mama,” and only “mama,” could provide.Ī year later, 15 mothers from across America who lost their Black sons at the hands of police speak out about life after tragedy-about what happens when the demonstrations, cameras, hashtags, and viral moments fade. She had died two years earlier, but as he lay on the pavement, a white police officer’s knee compressing his airways for over nine minutes, his oxygen-deprived brain reached for a symbol of safety and compassion. Accordingly, you should confirm the accuracy and completeness of all posted information before making any decision related to any data presented on this site.Fifteen days after Mother’s Day last year, George Floyd lay facedown, arms bound, calling for his mother with his final breaths. Owners of assume no responsibility (and expressly disclaim responsibility) for updating this site to keep information current or to ensure the accuracy or completeness of any posted information. Some addresses or other data might no longer be current. Some persons listed might no longer be registered sex offenders and others might have been added. ![]() All names presented here were gathered at a past date. ![]() No representation is made that the persons listed here are currently on the state's sex offenders registry. ![]()
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