I wrote this poem last year in honor of Ahmaud Arbery. Today marks one year since he was chased down and shot by Gregory and Travis McMichael as he jogged in a Georgia neighborhood. Thank you for reading.

“Today I Drove the Speed Limit”

They lynched a Black man today
in Georgia.
And I drove the speed limit.

I hope that my light skin
and my loose hair texture
and my gender will spare me
his fate.

But then I think of Korryn Gaines
Sandra Bland
Little Aiyana Jones.
So today I drove the speed limit.

I thought of my little brother,
not so little now, dressed in black
and chains and spikes
expressing himself the way he likes
as he takes walks in the
neighboring, whiter neighborhood.
And I drove the speed limit.

Ahmaud jogging,
daring to be Black and beautiful
where, because they can’t legally chain us
anymore,
they resort to modern American tradition
and lynch us.

I usually drive too fast
and I usually don’t think first when I go walking
and I usually stop to admire their flower beds
but today I drove the speed limit.

And I hoped that they don’t
lynch a Black woman in North Carolina.

- Hannah C.

IG: sunkissedfaerie

Civil Rights Movement, 1960s.

     I’m coming out of hiding for a little to, I guess, add another voice to an already deafening protest over justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many more who have faced their terrible end through police brutality. 

    I’ve been trying to rack my brain about what I should write to accompany these photos, but it’s hard to settle on one single thought about an issue that has existed for centuries and an injustice that has taken on many forms over time. Any person, of any color, with any capacity to sympathize should understand that being black does not equate to a death sentence, and that they should instead share that same tenderness they reserved for their own to their black brothers and sisters who have been murdered or jailed by a system that has been built only to benefit the white man.

     There are many ways to help the cause, the simplest being educating yourself and others through word of mouth, social media, or signing petitions and calling for people with power to do something. And IF YOU CAN, donate! Hundreds of protestors have been arrested braving the full heat of aggression escalated by the police, failed by the same people who promise to protect and serve, and some may not be in the economic state to afford bail. 

    There are hundreds of charities and organizations you can lend a helping hand to. These are just ones I’ve personally made donations to:

• The Bail Project
  
• Brooklyn Community Bail Fund
  
• Equal Justice Initiative

     I understand that the pandemic has rendered millions of people jobless and struggling to make ends meet, so there is no obligation for you to give away money that you need for you to live. Make a difference another way! To those who CAN donate, please do! You don’t have to be a millionaire to do so, and don’t you dare be ashamed of even just a $5 donation!

     Google Doc of Black Lives Matter Funds/Petitions/Actionables.

     Another Google Doc of more petitions and additional resources.

     ALSO! (sorry this is turning out to be a very long post ahaha) I noticed there are so many artists on Tumblr who are commissioning art and donating the profits to the BLM. So show some support for them as well!