Murder of Ahmaud Arbery

And you cite some of them in the case study that is available online.

Eric Gardner, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery.

There are actually too many to name.

But more recently, George Floyd.

It has been a difficult time for our country, in particular, black people in our country.

First, my condolences to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and all the families who have endured police brutality.

We, the National Football League, condemn racism and the systematic oppression of Black people.

We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest.

That was definitely a book of my heart.

It is a book of my heart because in 2020, when Ahmaud Arbery was shot by his neighbors, not by police, his neighbors, he was jogging in his own neighborhood.

and his neighbors mistook him for somebody he was not said he was doing things that he did not and he was just jogging and he was killed i said wow wow that's scary that's so sad and that's scary because i have a son it made me think about emmett till just so many things all these different people who have been hurt and i said i have a son and people say oh he's so cute but when he gets older They're going to be afraid of him.

They're going to be afraid of him.

and i think that's a great title but it wasn't the original one and it's really for all parents especially if you look at the back matter it talks about how children can develop resiliency how children can develop self-worth and it gives actual words for the parents or the teachers or whatever adult to say to the child and i think it just helps and for black males i mean we know we know the statistics on you know them being hounded by police or killed or by neighbors and when i walk with my son in my neighborhood it's different than when i walk by myself when i walk by myself everybody's hi good morning when i walk with my son they go across the street and go on the other sidewalk They say the N-word.

All kinds of stuff like that.

And so those experiences and seeing Ahmaud Arbery shot by neighbors when he was jogging, it was such a mix of emotions for me that I just had to do something.

And this is what I did.

I mean, I remember a very specific moment.

I also covered the Ahmaud Arbery case, which I'm sure you covered down here as well extensively.

And, you know, I remember being at the courthouse the day that the McMichaels were convicted or sentenced, one of the two.

I can't remember.

And now I can be proud to be an American and sing the Pledge of Allegiance with you motherfuckers.

And so it was a challenging moment because for parents, black parents and black organizers, black educators, the height of the racial reckoning that came about after the George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor murders, after that there was a rush to really ensure that our children were gonna have the type of education that we need.

And then here come these white women.

And some multicultural women who have a whiteness consciousness basically doing everything that they could to destroy the work that decades of black educators have put in, the work that decades of black parents have put in to make sure that our children were being properly centered in education.