John -

I haven't exercised outside in two months. The baskets at Hartley Park's courts in Mount Vernon were removed early on in the pandemic, precluding any early-morning, solo shootaround.

Today, however, I ran 2.23 miles outside in the rain. For the young man who would have turned 26 today. For his mother, who will spend her first Mother's Day without her son on Sunday. For Black people who live in fear, who live with trauma. For people running together in peace, love, solidarity, and justice. For Ahmaud Arbery.

It has been a somber #TeacherAppreciationWeek. I used to teach special education at MS 113 in the Bronx, and, when I was a teacher there, my heart would race whenever I received a call after 9 PM. Did something happen to one of my students? Are they ok? This persistent fear I had as a teacher, rooted in an understanding of the institutionalized racism we were embedded in, contrasted the liberatory hope of what I knew education could be: a tool that helped America redress its historic wrongs and reclaim its selective promise.

When we speak of justice, it is not merely a conviction for the murderers. It is recognizing that our foundation is racist and so is our mouthpiece, and unless we deal with both, we will always have names to remember. Do not forget them. We must honor their memory. Randolph Evans. Latasha Harlins. Aiyana Jones. Trayvon Martin. Cameron Tillman. So many more.

Ahmaud Arbery

With Love, For Justice,
Andom Ghebreghiorgis

Democrat for Congress | NY-16