Brave New World

On May 25, another unarmed black man was murdered by policemen, this time in Minneapolis. Like the other highly publicized cases of recent years, this one galvanized protesters to take to the streets in mostly peaceful, but sometimes violent, demonstrations. The difference this time was, in a word, the pandemic. Black communities have suffered a disproportionate number of deaths and economic casualties, and with the added strain of sheltering in place, tempers were already at a boiling point. I hope the heartbreaking video of George Floyd pinned to the ground struggling to breathe, and the anguished protests that continue in big cities and small towns alike, will be studied in American history as a turning point in racial understanding and racial justice. An ambitious dream, I know, but the mixed crowds of protesters and the expressions of solidarity in the news and social media with Black Lives Matter are signs of long-awaited progress. The photo (of the photo) above was taken in March during our stopover in Montgomery—outside the headquarters of the Equal Justice Initiative. A young female protester faces riot police in Baton Rouge after the death of Alton Sterling in the summer of 2016. The picture is shamefully familiar, another stand of outrage over a police killing of a black man. I’m remembering the Civil Rights Summit in Austin in 2014 and our visits to sites of Civil Rights history over the years, in Montgomery, Atlanta, Memphis, Little Rock. I have to bring back a few old photos of these unforgettable visits, the first of these taken at the Memorial for Peace and Justice (the National Lynching Memorial) established by Bryan Stevenson. His lifelong work on criminal justice reform has made him a national hero.