To The Mothers of Black Sons

Everything We Fear We Must Embrace

Lesley McSpadden holding a picture of her late son, Mike Brown.

He looked down at my son, who smiled immediately. He towered above him, 6 feet tall, posture erect from the hold of a bullet-proof vest. He smiled back at my son and asked how old he was. My child replied that he was “three and a half” and raised his fingers in the air. The man patted his head and grinned in my direction.