How long will we remember the name Amadou Diallo?
For how long shall we recall his death?
Certainly the forty one shots have been well documented,
examined, reexamined, decried, defamed, explained,
excused, justified, criticized, twisted and warped
until these shots no longer even resemble bullets
but rather simple molecules from a complex
chemical equation
So the parts are there; the journalistic diatribes,
the enraged denouncements, the pompous denials, the photos, the interviews,
the witness accounts,
the innumerable op-ed pieces
all of which will well serve any future historians
who may have some studious interest in turn-of-the-century
police/community relations and the
socioeconomic ramifications thereof
But what about us?
How long will we remember?
What lessons will we truly glean from such an act
of sadness?
How long will we remember
the name Amadou Diallo?
(c) David McIntire
a web page on Amadou Diallo:
http://www.amadoudiallofoundationinc.com/