What Did You Do on Your Sabbatical?

There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.

―David Eagleman, Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives

BOSTON — I went on sabbatical from teaching last year. It was one of those things that I, a kid of working class parents, could never have imagined when I was younger. My institution was enabling me to take time off of work to concentrate on my artistic development: to focus on my studio the way that I have been focusing on my students for the past 10 years. This time was hard-won, precious; I was looking forward to it opening up for me. I had a lot of ideas that had filled my sketchbooks over the years. Also, I had bookcases of texts I could not wait to devour. It had been so long since I had read anything for pleasure, I was so looking forward to curling up with all the tomes I had purchased that work had not allowed me to open. Also, to be perfectly honest, I was looking forward to getting some rest. I purchased supplies and cleared out my studio for new work. I cleaned up my email and finished up school business. I got to a clutter-free place. I thought about what was possible.

Then Michael Brown happened.

While news channels kept showing his body lying in the street for hours, we found out about John H. Crawford, III.

And then Ezell Ford. And Dante Parker. And Kajieme Powell. And more. And many, many more. Some captured in grainy videos replayed on television and computer screens.

In the studio, I could not stop thinking about this march of death. I painted almost every day, and every day this parade of killing was on my television and radio and social media feed. Some of the dead became Twitter hashtags. Some did not, but they were no less dead. Why were some people more important than others? Did people think that some victims were more worthy than others of not being shot to death, or tasered to death, or run over, or beaten to death by the state?

I was on sabbatical, so I had time. Time to create turned into time to think, and I couldn’t think about anything other than death. I didn’t read any books. I painted.

It’s summer (July), and I’m at dinner with a friend. We are in a bistro with televisions all over the restaurant and bar area. The sound is turned down, but the images light the entire place. The video of Officer Daniel Pantaleo choking Eric Garner to death plays over and over and over, interrupted by silent talking heads. I wonder, why are they playing this man’s murder on a loop? People eat, drink, laugh, walk about. No one seems to notice that a man is being choked to death on television. Then I start to think that maybe they do see it and that it doesn’t bother them. This is the first time I witness this, a black person being killed on television. It will not be the last time. Not by any measure.

Over the course of my sabbatical, I see black people shot to death on television over and over again. Newscasters and pundits issue verbal warnings that the video they are about to show might upset “sensitive viewers.” I try to imagine a viewer who would not be upset about seeing someone like Walter Scott shot to death (or by the fact that his killer, Officer Michael Slager, planted evidence on his corpse). Or Tamir Rice shot to death. I wonder why they don’t tell the “insensitive viewers” to hook up their DVRs. When I am in the studio, the images filled my head. I jump when cars backfire.

People ask me how my sabbatical is going. They say, “I hope you are taking advantage of this time.” They tell me how lucky I am. They ask, “What’s going on in the studio?” I wonder if they watch the news at all. I wonder if they know about what is happening. I wonder how they feel about these images of black people being killed. I post about this stuff on social media, and it is ignored, for the most part. Ferguson explodes. Social media does not believe in tears.

In August of 2015, two reporters are shot to death on live television. Alison Parker and Adam Ward are killed by Vester Lee Flanagan II, who uploaded a video of the killing to social media. Immediately, the television station, Facebook, and other social media erupt with requests for people not to view or share the video. To maintain the dignity of the victims, people beg the public not to watch the video. It would be a terrible thing to give the killer satisfaction by watching his murder of the reporters.

I start to wonder why black people are allowed to be killed on television. Why we are allowed to be transformed from subjects to objects and left to lie in streets for hours? Why is it acceptable to show the end of a black life on television?

I start to make work about the historical impulse to turn violence against black people into part of our domestic structures. People continue to ask me what I am doing on sabbatical. I think of Neruda and I wish I knew Spanish. (“Come and see the blood in the streets … ”) I decide to make a work about all the people killed by police while I was on sabbatical. I dismiss the idea as too agitprop. I talk to my mentors. One of them tells me, “Make the work. Just don’t trivialize.” I work with a friend and learn how to make photographs. It is harder than I imagined. I finish this work, Family Pictures. I show it to a few people. I finish my sabbatical. I’ve read few books. I feel surrounded by ghosts.

I paint everything I think. I don’t trivialize. I realize a new body of paintings. My studio is full of murderers, victims, liars, and accusers.

I return to work in September. In December, I am hassled and detained by the police.  I write about the experience. Many people want me to come and talk to groups to “raise awareness.” I decline. They seem to be unaware that I would not like to relive a traumatic experience in public. People want me to talk about #BlackLivesMatter. The college intervenes and offers to handle calls from the press for me. I am deeply grateful, because this allows me to concentrate on my job and my students. CNN calls the college and wants to know if I will talk to Don Lemon. I tell the school that I will talk to anyone at CNN except Don Lemon. I get hate mail.

Lisa Tung, the exhibitions director at the college, asks me what work I want to put in the biennial faculty show. I decide to make the piece I thought was agitprop. I call Carmine, my neon fabricator. I want him to make a sign that mimics police light and spells out what is lost. I research police killings of unarmed civilians. I find no central list. I find no definitive list. I find no government statistics. I rely on activist sources. I rely on the Guardian. I make the piece. It is installed in the faculty show. It is a timeline. Its information: date, name, gender, city, state, method of killing. I title it “A Partial List of Unarmed African-Americans who were Killed by Police or who Died in Police Custody During my Sabbatical from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, 2014-2015.”

There are 262 names.

People tell me that they look at the wall and measure time. They lift up the people in their thoughts. Someone asks me if I am influenced by Maya Lin. I answer that we all are influenced by Maya Lin.

08/01/2014	Anthony Calloway	Male	27	Atlanta	GA	Gunshot
08/02/2014	Omar Abrego	Male	37	Los Angeles	CA	Beaten
08/03/2014	Jacorey Calhoun	Male	23	Oakland	CA	Gunshot
08/04/2014	Amir Brooks	Male	17	Washington	DC	Vehicle
08/05/2014	Jeremey Lake	Male	19	Tulsa	OK	Gunshot
08/05/2014	John H. Crawford III	Male	22	Beavercreek	OH	Gunshot
08/06/2014	Michael Laray Dozer	Male	26	Bakersfield	CA	Gunshot
08/09/2014	Michael Brown	Male	18	Ferguson	MO	Gunshot
08/11/2014	Torrez Harris	Male	52	Canton	MS	Gunshot
08/11/2014	Ezell Ford	Male	25	Los Angeles	CA	Gunshot
08/11/2014	Eddie Davis	Male	67	Dekalb	TX	Gunshot
08/12/2014	Dante Parker	Male	36	Victorville	CA	Tasered
08/13/2014	Corey Levert Tanner	Male	24	Bunnel	FL	Gunshot
08/14/2014	Michelle Cusseaux	Female	50	Phoenix	AZ	Gunshot
08/17/2014	Levon Leroy Love	Male	44	San Antonio	TX	Tasered
08/18/2014	Luther Lathron Walker	Male	38	Bellflower	CA	Gunshot
08/18/2014	Andre Maurice Jones	Male	37	Los Angeles	CA	Gunshot
08/19/2014	Darius Colegarrit	Male	21	Chicago	IL	Gunshot
08/19/2014	David Ellis	Male	29	Philadelphia	PA	Gunshot
08/19/2014	Kajieme Powell	Male	25	St. Louis	MO	Gunshot
08/20/2014	Arvel Douglas Williams	Male	30	Perry Hall	MD	Tasered
08/22/2014	Vernicia Woodard	Female	26	Hapeville	GA	Gunshot
08/23/2014	Anthony Lamar Brown	Male	39	West Palm Beach	FL	Gunshot
08/23/2014	Briant Paula	Male	26	Methuen	MA	Vehicle
08/24/2014	Rondre Hornbeak	Male	38	Ardmore	OK	Unknown
08/25/2014	Desean Pittman	Male	20	Chicago	IL	Gunshot
08/25/2014	Steven Lashone Douglas	Male	29	Dallas	TX	Gunshot
08/26/2014	Roshad McIntosh	Male	18	Chicago	IL	Gunshot
08/26/2014	Cortez Washington	Male	32	Omaha	NE	Gunshot
08/29/2014	Jeremy Lewis	Male	33	Orlando	FL	Gunshot
08/31/2014	Naim Owens	Male	22	Brooklyn	NY	Gunshot
08/31/2014	Eugene N. Turner III	Male	28	Kansas City	MO	Gunshot
09/02/2014	Kendrick Brown	Male	35	Cleveland	OH	Gunshot
09/08/2014	Alphonse Edward Perkins	Male	50	Los Angeles	CA	Gunshot
09/12/2014	Darrien Nathaniel Hunt	Male	22	Saratoga Springs	UT	Gunshot
09/12/2014	Elijah Jackson	Male	33	Knoxville	TN	Gunshot
09/15/2014	Kerry Lynn Brown	Male	26	Lacey	WA	Gunshot
09/15/2014	Michael Bonty	Male	23	Wasilla	AK	Gunshot
09/16/2014	Kashad Ashford	Male	23	Rutherford	NJ	Gunshot
09/18/2014	Charles Smith	Male	29	Savannah	GA	Gunshot
09/18/2014	Michael M. Willis Jr.	Male	42	Jennings	MO	Gunshot
09/23/2014	Cameron Tillman	Male	14	Houma	LA	Gunshot
09/24/2014	Nolan Anderson	Male	50	LaPlace	LA	Gunshot
09/27/2014	Eugene Williams	Male	38	Kansas City	MO	Tasered
09/28/2014	Oliver Jarrod Gregoire	Male	26	Baytown	TX	Tasered
09/30/2014	Javonta Darden	Male	20	Athens	GA	Gunshot
09/30/2014	Marlon S. Woodstock	Male	38	Sunrise	FL	Gunshot
10/01/2014	Tracy Ann Oglesby Wade	Female	39	Louisville	KY	Gunshot
10/04/2014	Lashano J. Gilbert	Male	31	New London	CT	Tasered
10/06/2014	Balantine Mbegbu	Male	65	Phoenix	AZ	Tasered
10/07/2014	O’Shaine Evans	Male	26	San Francisco	CA	Gunshot
10/07/2014	Aljarreau Cross	Male	29	North Las Vegas	NV	Gunshot
10/08/2014	VonDerrit D. Myers Jr.	Male	18	St. Louis	MO	Gunshot
10/09/2014	Ahaviel T. Whitfield	Male	39	Decatur	GA	Gunshot
10/10/2014	Elisha Paul Glass	Male	20	Columbus	OH	Gunshot
10/10/2014	Qusean Whitten	Male	18	Columbus	OH	Gunshot
10/11/2014	Derryl Drayton	Male	51	James Island	SC	Gunshot
10/13/2014	Macario Cisneros Garcia	Male	54	Pleasanton	TX	Tasered
10/14/2014	Rikessa La’Shae Lee	Female	21	Lorman	MS	Vehicle
10/17/2014	Adam Ardett Madison	Male	28	Warrior	AL	Gunshot
10/23/2014	Zale Thompson	Male	32	Jamaica	NY	Gunshot
10/24/2014	Keonna Redmond	Female	15	Jackson	MS	Vehicle
10/25/2014	Florence White	Female	51	Greensboro	NC	Vehicle
10/25/2014	Craig Hall	Male	29	Maywood	IL	Gunshot
10/27/2014	Christopher Mason McCray	Male	17	Fayetteville	NC	Vehicle
10/28/2014	Kaldrick Donald	Male	24	Gretna	FL	Gunshot
10/29/2014	Vincent Omear Thomas	Male	33	Florence	SC	Vehicle
11/01/2014	Johnn T. Wilson III	Male	22	Las Vegas	NV	Gunshot
11/01/2014	Michael D. McDougle	Male	29	Philadelphia	MS	Tasered, Beaten
11/02/2014	Charles Emmett Logan	Male	68	Maplewood	MN	Tasered
11/03/2014	Christopher Anderson	Male	27	Highland Park	IL	Gunshot
11/03/2014	Raphael Thomas	Male	29	Akron	OH	Gunshot
11/06/2014	Cinque D’Jahspora	Male	20	Jackson	TN	Gunshot
11/08/2014	Carlos Davenport	Male	50	Kansas City	KS	Gunshot
11/09/2014	Aura Rosser	Female	40	Ann Arbor	MI	Gunshot
11/13/2014	Tanisha N. Anderson	Female	37	Cleveland	OH	Tasered, Physical restraint
11/13/2014	Darnell Dayron Stafford	Male	31	Trenton	NJ	Gunshot
11/18/2014	Ronald Glennlewis Evans	Male	30	Bunnell	FL	Vehicle
11/19/2014	Keara Crowder	Female	29	Memphis	TN	Gunshot
11/20/2014	Akai Gurley	Male	28	Brooklyn	NY	Gunshot
11/22/2014	Tamir E. Rice	Male	12	Cleveland	OH	Gunshot
11/24/2014	O’Tavis Hall	Male	35	Winchester	CA	Gunshot
11/24/2014	Leonardo Marquette Little	Male	33	Jacksonville	FL	Gunshot
11/25/2014	Eric Ricks	Male	30	Mesquite	TX	Tasered
12/02/2014	Rumain Brisbon	Male	34	Phoenix	AZ	Gunshot
12/02/2014	William Mark Jones	Male	50	Red Springs	NC	Tasered
12/02/2014	Isaac Lee Ricks	Male	68	Los Angeles	CA	Gunshot
12/02/2014	Rumain Brishon	Male	34	Phoenix	AZ	Gunshot
12/04/2014	Keenan Ardoin	Male	24	Ville Platte	LA	Medical emergency, Drug overdose, pepper spray
12/07/2014	Jerry Demonte Nowlin	Male	39	Oklahoma City	OK	Gunshot
12/08/2014	Christopher Bernard Doss	Male	31	San Antonio	TX	Gunshot
12/09/2014	Calvin Peters	Male	49	Brooklyn	NY	Gunshot
12/10/2014	Travis Faison	Male	24	Sanford	NC	Gunshot
12/12/2014	Thurrell Jowers	Male	22	Poplar Bluff	MO	Gunshot
12/13/2014	Joseph Michael Rodriguez	Male	19	Topeka	KS	Gunshot
12/14/2014	Xavier McDonald	Male	16	Nashville	TN	Gunshot
12/14/2014	Michael D. Sulton	Male	23	Ridgeland	MS	Gunshot
12/15/2014	Dennis Grisgby Jr.	Male	35	Texarkana	TX	Gunshot
12/15/2014	Brandon Tate Brown	Male	26	Philadelphia	PA	Gunshot
12/19/2014	Terrell Beasley	Male	28	Saint Louis	MO	Gunshot
12/23/2014	Antonio Martin	Male	18	Berkeley	MO	Gunshot
12/26/2014	Quentin Smith	Male	23	Cocoa	FL	Gunshot
12/26/2014	Carlton Wayne “Chimmy” Smith	Male	20	Texas City	TX	Gunshot
12/27/2014	David Andre Scott	Male	28	Jacksonville	FL	Gunshot
12/29/2014	Kevin Davis	Male	44	Decatur	GA	Gunshot
12/30/2014	Jerame C. Reid	Male	36	Bridgeton	NJ	Gunshot
12/31/2014	Eric Tyrone Forbes	Male	28	Miami	FL	Gunshot
01/01/2015	Matthew Ojibade	Male	22	Savannah	GA	Unknown
01/06/2015	Brian Pickett	Male	26	Los Angeles	CA	Tasered
01/06/2015	Leslie Sapp III	Male	47	Knoxville	PA	Gunshot
01/07/2015	Andre Larone Murphy Sr.	Male	42	Norfolk	NE	Tasered
01/07/2015	Ronald “Maynard” Sneed	Male	31	Freeport	TX	Gunshot
01/07/2015	Hashim Hanif Ibn Abdul-Rasheed	Male	41	Columbus	OH	Gunshot
01/07/2015	Omarr Jackson	Male	37	New Orleans	LA	Gunshot
01/08/2015	Artago Damon Howard	Male	36	Strong	AR	Gunshot
01/11/2015	Elarry Brumfield Jr.	Male	31	Pascagoula	MS	Fire
01/14/2015	Marcus Ryan Golden	Male	24	St. Paul	MN	Gunshot
01/15/2015	DeWayne Carr	Male	45	Scottsdale	AZ	Gunshot
01/15/2015	Donte Sowell	Male	27	Indianapolis	IN	Gunshot
01/15/2015	Kavonda Earl Payton	Male	39	Aurora	CO	Gunshot
01/15/2015	Mario A. Jordan	Male	34	Chesapeake	VA	Gunshot
01/16/2015	Rodney Walker	Male	23	Tulsa	OK	Gunshot
01/17/2015	Terence Walker	Male	21	Muskogee	OK	Gunshot
01/17/2015	Daniel Brumley	Male	27	Fort Worth	TX	Gunshot
01/21/2015	Isaac Holmes	Male	19	St. Louis	MO	Gunshot
01/24/2015	Darin Hutchins	Male	26	Baltimore	MD	Gunshot
01/27/2015	Jermonte Fletcher	Male	33	Columbus	OH	Gunshot
01/31/2015	Edward Donnell Bright Sr.	Male	56	Randallstown	MD	Gunshot
02/03/2015	Ledarius D. Williams	Male	23	St. Louis	MO	Gunshot
02/03/2015	Yuvette Henderson	Female	38	Oakland	CA	Gunshot
02/03/2015	Dewayne Deshawn Ward Jr.	Male	29	Antioch	CA	Gunshot
02/04/2015	Markell Atkins	Male	36	Memphis	TN	Gunshot
02/04/2015	Jimmy Ray Robinson Jr.	Male	51	Lorena	TX	Gunshot
02/06/2015	Herbert Hill	Male	26	Oklahoma City	OK	Gunshot
02/07/2015	James Howard Allen	Male	74	Gastonia	NC	Gunshot
02/09/2015	Desmond Luster Sr.	Male	45	Dallas	TX	Gunshot
02/10/2015	Anthony Bess	Male	48	Memphis	TN	Gunshot
02/11/2015	Phillip Watkins	Male	23	San Jose	CA	Gunshot
02/15/2015	Lavall Hall	Male	25	Miami Gardens	FL	Gunshot
02/18/2015	Janisha Fonville	Female	20	Charlotte	NC	Gunshot
02/20/2015	Douglas Harris	Male	77	Birmingham	AL	Gunshot
02/20/2015	Terry Price	Male	41	Tulsa	OK	Tasered
02/20/2015	Stanley Lamar Grant	Male	38	Birmingham	AL	Gunshot
02/20/2015	Alejandro Salazar	Male		Houston	TX	Gunshot
02/22/2015	Calvon A. Reid	Male	39	Coconut Creek	FL	Tasered
02/23/2015	A’Donte Washington	Male	18	Millbrook	AL	Gunshot
02/25/2015	Glenn C. Lewis	Male	37	Oklahoma City	OK	Gunshot
02/28/2015	Cornelius J. Parker	Male	28	Columbia	MO	Gunshot
02/28/2015	Thomas Allen Jr.	Male	34	St. Louis	MO	Gunshot
02/28/2015	Ian Sherrod	Male	40	Tarboro	NC	Gunshot
03/01/2015	Charly Leundeu “Africa” Keunang	Male	43	Los Angeles	CA	Gunshot
03/01/2015	Darrell “Hubbard” Gatewood	Male	47	Oklahoma City	OK	Tasered
03/03/2015	Fednel Rhinvil	Male	25	Salisbury	MD	Gunshot
03/05/2015	Tyrone Ryerson Lawrence	Male	45	Milwaukee	WI	Gunshot
03/06/2015	Tony Terrell Robinson	Male	19	Madison	WI	Gunshot
03/06/2015	Naeschylus Vinzant	Male	37	Aurora	CO	Gunshot
03/06/2015	Bernard Moore	Male	62	Atlanta	GA	Vehicle
03/06/2015	Andrew Anthony Williams	Male	48	Melrose	FL	Gunshot
03/08/2015	Monique Jenee Deckard	Female	43	Anaheim	CA	Gunshot
03/09/2015	Anthony Hill	Male	27	Chamblee	GA	Gunshot
03/09/2015	Cedrick Lamont Bishop	Male	30	Cocoa	FL	Gunshot
03/10/2015	Terrance Moxley	Male	29	Mansfield	OH	Tasered
03/10/2015	Theodore J. Johnson Sr.	Male	64	Cleveland	OH	Gunshot
03/11/2015	Terry Garnett Jr.	Male	37	Elkton	MD	Gunshot
03/17/2015	Askari Roberts	Male	35	Rome	GA	Tasered
03/19/2015	Kendre Alston	Male	16	Jacksonville	FL	Gunshot
03/19/2015	Brandon Jones	Male	18	Cleveland	OH	Gunshot
03/21/2015	Romeo Roddrick Staples	Male	20	Palatka	FL	Vehicle
03/22/2015	Denzel Brown	Male	21	Islip	NY	Gunshot
03/24/2015	Nicholas Taft Thomas	Male	25	Atlanta	GA	Gunshot
03/24/2015	Walter J. Brown III	Male	29	Portsmouth	VA	Gunshot
03/27/2015	Angelo West	Male	41	Roxbury	MA	Gunshot
03/27/2015	Jamalis Hall	Male	39	Fort Pierce	FL	Gunshot
03/28/2015	Meagan Hockaday	Female	26	Oxnard	CA	Gunshot
03/30/2015	Mya Ricky Shawatza Hall	Transgender	27	Fort George Meade	MD	Gunshot
03/30/2015	Dominick R. Wise	Male	30	Culpeper	VA	Taser
03/31/2015	Anthony Stokes	Male	17	Roswell	GA	Vehicle
03/31/2015	Phillip White	Male	32	Vineland	NJ	Beaten
03/31/2015	Tyrail Ezell	Male	31	Nashville	TN	Gunshot
04/01/2015	Robert Washington	Male	37	Hawthorne	CA	Gunshot
04/02/2015	Eric Courtney Harris	Male	44	Tulsa	OK	Gunshot
04/02/2015	Donald “Dontay” Shaw Ivy	Male	39	Albany	NY	Tasered, medical emergency, beaten
04/02/2015	Darrin A. Langford	Male	32	Rock Island	IL	Gunshot
04/04/2015	Walter Lamar Scott	Male	50	North Charleston	SC	Gunshot
04/04/2015	Justus Howell	Male	17	Zion	IL	Gunshot
04/04/2015	Paul Anthony Anderson	Male	31	Anaheim	CA	Gunshot
04/06/2015	Desmond Willis	Male	25	Harvey	LA	Gunshot
04/08/2015	Dexter Bethea	Male	42	Valdosta	GA	Gunshot
04/09/2015	Don Oneal Smith Jr.	Male	29	Monon	IN	Gunshot
04/12/2015	Freddie Gray	Male	25	Baltimore	MD	Medical emergency
04/12/2015	Mack Long	Male	36	Indianapolis	IN	Gunshot
04/14/2015	Colby Robinson	Male	26	Dallas	TX	Gunshot
04/15/2015	Frank Ernest Shephard III	Male	41	Houston	TX	Gunshot
04/15/2015	Tevin Barkley	Male	22	Miami	FL	Gunshot
04/16/2015	Darrell Lawrence Brown	Male	31	Hagerstown	MD	Tasered
04/17/2015	Jeffery Kemp	Male	18	Chicago	IL	Gunshot
04/17/2015	Thaddeus McCarroll	Male	23	Jennings	MO	Gunshot, first shot with a “less-lethal” round of some sort
04/19/2015	Norman Cooper	Male	33	San Antonio	TX	Tasered
04/21/2015	Daniel Wolfe	Male	35	Union	NJ	Gunshot
04/22/2015	William L. Chapman II	Male	18	Portsmouth	VA	Gunshot, Tasered
04/24/2015	Todd Jamal Dye	Male	20	Trinidad	CO	Gunshot
04/25/2015	David Felix	Male	24	New York	NY	Gunshot
04/27/2015	Terrance Kellom	Male	20	Detroit	MI	Gunshot
04/28/2015	Jared Johnson	Male	22	New Orleans	LA	Gunshot
04/29/2015	Jeffery O. Adkins	Male	53	Emporia	VA	Gunshot
04/30/2015	Alexia Christian	Female	25	Atlanta	GA	Gunshot
05/03/2015	Elton Simpson	Male	30	Garland	TX	Gunshot
05/04/2015	Ricardo Blackmon	Male	27	Jackson	MS	Vehicle
05/05/2015	Brendon “Dizzle” Glenn	Male	29	Venice	CA	Gunshot
05/06/2015	Jason Champion	Male	41	Secaucus	NJ	Vehicle
05/06/2015	Nuwnah Laroche	Female	34	Secaucus	NJ	Vehicle
05/07/2015	Nephi Arriguin	Male	21	Cerritos	CA	Gunshot
05/08/2015	Dedrick Marshall	Male	48	Harvey	LA	Gunshot
05/10/2015	Lionel Lorenzo Young	Male	34	Landover	MD	Gunshot
05/11/2015	Kelvin Antonie Goldston	Male	30	Fort Worth	TX	Gunshot
05/12/2015	D’Angelo Reyes Stallworth	Male	28	Jacksonville	FL	Gunshot
05/19/2015	Anthony Quinn Gomez Jr.	Male	29	Lancaster	PA	Gunshot
05/20/2015	Marcus D. Wheeler	Male	26	Omaha	NE	Gunshot
05/20/2015	Chrislon Talbott	Male	38	Owensboro	KY	Gunshot
05/20/2015	Markus Clark	Male	26	Fort Lauderdale	FL	Medical Emergency
05/21/2015	Javoris Reshaud Washington	Male	29	Fort Lauderdale	FL	Gunshot
05/21/2015	Jerome Thomas Caldwell	Male	32	Charleston	SC	Gunshot
05/23/2015	Caso Jackson	Male	25	Detroit	MI	Gunshot
05/25/2015	Anthony Dewayne Briggs	Male	36	Huntsville	AL	Gunshot
05/26/2015	Dalton Branch	Male	51	New York	NY	Gunshot
05/28/2015	Kenneth Dothard	Male	40	Carrollton	GA	Gunshot
05/29/2015	Kevin Allen	Male	36	Lyndhurst	NJ	Gunshot
05/31/2015	Richard Gregory Davis	Male	50	Rochester	NY	Taser
06/02/2015	Usaama Rahim	Male	26	Boston	MA	Gunshot
06/03/2015	Sherman Byrd Jr.	Male	24	Chester	PA	Vehicle
06/04/2015	Andrew Ellerbe	Male	33	Philadelphia	PA	Gunshot
06/06/2015	Demouria Hogg	Male	30	Oakland	CA	Gunshot
06/08/2015	Ross Anthony	Male	25	Dallas	TX	Tasered
06/09/2015	Quandavier Hicks	Male	22	Cincinnati	OH	Gunshot
06/10/2015	Isiah Hampton	Male	19	New York	NY	Gunshot
06/11/2015	Fritz Severe	Male	46	Miami	FL	Gunshot
06/15/2015	Kris Jackson	Male	22	South Lake Tahoe	CA	Gunshot
06/16/2015	Jermaine Benjamin	Male	41	Vero Beach	FL	Medical emergency
06/19/2015	Trepierre Hummons	Male	21	Cincinnati	OH	Gunshot
06/20/2015	Kevin Bajoie	Male	31	Baton Rouge	LA	Tasered
06/20/2015	Alfontish Cockerham	Male	23	Chicago	IL	Gunshot
06/22/2015	Tyrone Dale Harris Jr.	Male	20	Pittsburgh	PA	Gunshot
06/24/2015	Damien Alexander Harrell	Male	26	Yorktown	VA	Gunshot
06/25/2015	Spencer McCain	Male	41	Owings Mills	MD	Gunshot
07/02/2015	Victo Larosa III	Male	23	Jacksonville	FL	Gunshot
07/04/2015	Kawanza Jamal Beaty	Male	23	Newport News	VA	Gunshot
07/04/2015	Robert Elando Malone	Male	42	Oklahoma City	OK	Gunshot
07/04/2015	Maximo Rabasa	Male	52	Miami	FL	Tasered
07/06/2015	Jason Hendley	Male	29	Los Angeles	CA	Gunshot
07/07/2015	Marcellus Jamarcus Burley	Male	18	Missouri City	TX	Gunshot
07/08/2015	Jonathan Sanders	Male	39	Stonewall	MS	Asphyxiated
07/10/2015	Anthony Dewayne Ware	Male	35	Tuscaloosa	AL	Medical emergency
07/10/2015	Freddie Lee Blue	Male	20	Covington	GA	Gunshot
07/11/2015	George Mann	Male	35	Stone Mountain	GA	Tasered
07/13/2015	Sandra Bland	Female	28	Hempstead	TX	Asphyxiated, ruled suicide
07/19/2015	Samuel DuBose	Male	43	Cincinnati	OH	Gunshot
08/06/2015	Troy Robinson	Male	33	Decatur	GA	Tasered
08/07/2015	Christian Taylor	Male	19	Arlington	TX	Gunshot
08/14/2015	Asshams Pharoah Manley	Male	30	Spauldings	MD	Gunshot
08/28/2015	Felix Kumi	Male	61	Mt. Vernon	NY	Gunshot
08/31/2015	John Carney III	Male	48	Cincinnati	OH	Tasered

Someone will say their names, and they will be alive a little longer.