By CJ Smith
If we must die
we shall not die
by the people that protect us
There is enough violence
we do not need it being
spread to our protectors
There are no ways police
should never ever should be
able to kill a man and he has surrendered
Also if the man is down why would you
stand there and keep
on choking a man after he gave up
I know that if the authorities don’t give what
the people are talking about
we will take this to the world wide web
so people can hear us
they’re killing us all one by one
“If We Must Die” was published in our After School Tutoring and Writing program in 2015 in response to the murder of Eric Garner. Help support the unique voices of our young authors by sharing their stories and making a donation! To receive notices about opportunities for your child, sign up for our youth writing opportunities newsletter.
