Night Terrors

Because this happened in Grand Rapids, MI, and it continues to happen all over the US.

Night Terrors

In
the middle
of the night,
in the glare
of
a squad car light,
police wrenched
the arms
of an
eleven-year old
Black girl
behind
her back,
handcuffed them
together
while
she screamed
in terror.

She could
have been
in
my classroom
this year
learning,
simply being
a kid.

But,
arms twisted
behind
her back,
she screamed
because
she had
heard
the stories,
seen
the videos;
she had learned
how this
goes

down.

– Steve Peterson

Published by

Steve Peterson

I teach fifth grade in Iowa.

2 thoughts on “Night Terrors”

  1. I shouldn’t have looked for the news story nor should I have watched the video. On the other hand, maybe more people need to have the terror of that young girl’s cries etched into their memories so we can build a world where that kind of misuse of power is not the norm…

    1. It was awful, wasn’t it? I couldn’t help but think that she could have been one of my students (and that she is someone’s student and someone’s child.) Ugh.

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