In Memory: To Be Young, Gifted, and Black

All of us at the Northside Achievement Zone grieve with the families, friends, and classmates of all the young, gifted, and Black young men gunned down and killed simply because they were young, gifted, and Black.

We mourn deeply and demand justice for all our Black young men who embodied the hope of our community and the dreams of our ancestors. 

• We cry in anguish for 22-year-old Amir Locke joining the list of too many others killed tragically by police. 
• We weep in pain for 15-year-old Jahmari Rice painfully gunned down by other teens, joining a list far too long to count.
• We mourn in despair for 15-year-old Deshaun Hill Jr. senselessly murdered for absolutely no reason at all.
• And we scream in exhaustion for the two yet named young men murdered yesterday afternoon in North Minneapolis.

When will the constant community carnage end? When we come together as never before to ensure that our trauma is addressed and all our young people are given what they need to thrive.

When will tragic and unjustified police killings end? When we refuse to accept anything less than total transformation, accountability, transparency, and justice.

When will our sons and daughters know without a doubt that they are young, gifted, and Black? When we all treat them that way each and every day in every way!

The truth is– They were all young, gifted, and Black! And now they are no more!