Requiem

At the university I attended, there was a memorial ceremony held twice a year to honor the students who had died during the semester. The proceedings would begin and end with two snare drummers playing the first rhythm heard here. Today, I play it for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and so many more people of color whose lives were needlessly taken by bigoted police and vigilantes.

The Bolero that follows is played with the acknowledgement that I am just one humble artist making one humble gesture to say what needs to be said over and over again: Black Lives Matter. What remains for my neighbors and I to do is direct our votes, our money, our freedom of speech, our access to education, and our empathy toward defeating racism. Enough is enough.