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I am a jogger.

I am a jogger who happens to be black.

I am a jogger who happens to be black, living in an America that says it’s ok for someone like me to be unnecessarily gunned down without punishment.

Tomorrow in Brunswick, Georgia, my home state, Ahmaud Aubrey should have been celebrating his 26^th birthday. Instead, thousands of runners will be honoring his memory after the horrific February 23 shooting that took his life. He was like you and me, a young man who was going about his business. Just like Trayvon Martin, someone who was unjustifiably taken from this world.

A video was released yesterday that shows footage of the unspeakable tragedy. The murderers, whom I won’t mention by name, said that they did what was called a “citizen’s arrest,” and stated that they thought he looked like a suspect in a series of robberies. So, they took it upon themselves to enforce the law. The district attorney’s office will now present the evidence only after the original prosecution recused themselves from the case. This hits me at the core because I lost my brother, who was similar in build and age, to gun violence.

Before you respond with, “What about black on black crime?” This isn’t about race it’s about doing what is right. How many more times must it take a video to go viral before any kind of justice can even be administered? Those of use who all remember the Rodney King incident from the early 90’s or Natasha Harlins to the more recent stories of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, it’s all the same. At what point do young black men and women stop becoming targets for simply existing?

Yes, we live in an evil world, a world that puts the profits of war over the peace of the people. However, before you begin to think “Oh that stuff just happens in the South, it could never happen here,” I once thought that way prior to October 31, 1998. We can’t dismiss the fact that there needs to be a heart change among the people, before the next viral video happens here in Lake Ridge or Dumfries.

Tomorrow there will be a dedication run/walk of 2.23 miles, which is the distance Ahmaud ran that fateful day. To the people of Prince William County, let us take the steps towards unity and stand for justice.