My heart is breaking for Brandon Bernard and his family. The churning in my stomach which was a fixture during Election Week is back. Mr Bernard was executed on Thursday in Indiana. For a crime that he committed when he was just 18 years old. Yes, he was found guilty, and no I do not believe he deserved to die.
It makes me crazy angry that a black man who committed a crime when he was 18 years old, who spent years imprisoned, who dedicated his life to speaking out about crime to youth, and to whom 5 of the 9 jurors called for the administration to commute Bernard’s death sentence, this man was still killed. The photos of Mr Bernard are haunting me, everyone I’ve seen shows him smiling, relaxed, welcoming.
Meanwhile, Harvey Weinstein, the sexual predator who manipulated an entire industry with his rape, intimidation and predatory habits was acquitted for the charges of ‘predatory sexual assault’. How does this happen? What will it take for the United States of America to see how broken judicial system is? How many people need to die first?
Its clear to me that the gut churning that I’m experiencing will not subside anytime soon. Perhaps it will get better when Biden / Harris step in, but I can assure you it will not go away. There is so much to be done to mend the ruptured wounds of my birth country.
Rest in Power Mr Bernard, we will not forget.
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