Say Their Names

Brian and I discover a memorial for Blacks who have been killed by police. The sign said, #SayTheirNames. So we did.

Brian and I took a walk and discovered a pop-up memorial for Blacks who have been killed by police or – in one case that I noticed – not by active police officers but by racism itself. This would be Ahmaud Arbery, who was chased down by two men who didn’t like that he was jogging in their neighborhood. The memorial was simple: A name on a handwritten sign and taped to a tree. Many of them included #BLM or #SayTheirNames. So we headed home and came back with a microphone and a camera.

Jemel Robinson, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Black Lives Matter Memorial, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Black Lives Matter Memorial, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Botham Jean, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Philando Castile, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Bettie Jones, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
De Juan Guillory, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Freddie Gray, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Jamar Clark, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Jamarion Robinson, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Jordan Edwards, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)
Manuel Loggins, Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (June 7, 2020)

We took a picture of all of the names that we read for this podcast episode, though I didn’t include all of them here. If you’re interested in seeing something that isn’t posted, or if you would like a high resolution copy of any of these, let me know.

Not too far away, there were even more names posted at the library.

George Floyd poster at the Merriam Park Library, Saint Paul, MN (June 2020)
#SayTheirNames poster and a list of Black victims of police brutality and excessive use of force at the Merriam Park Library, Saint Paul, MN (June 2020)

Note

The meaning of 8:46 (you might have noticed, the length of this podcast episode), has changed. Prosecutors in the George Floyd case recently corrected the length of time fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck. Originally it was said to be 8 minutes and 46 seconds. It has been corrected to be 7 minutes and 46 seconds.

Music

Say His Name, The Later Birds – I came across The Later Birds YouTube channel when I was looking for sources for pronouncing certain names. I appreciate the permission to use their work in version two of this episode.

Lift Motif , Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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