Death and the Angry Black Man*

Robert A B Sawyer
Nov 5 · 5 min read

Roland was an angry black man. And, not just angry, the man was furious. He haunted Broadway between 82nd and 84th Street, where he made it a habit of accosting white people. He’d shout at them, “Hey, help me out? You, give me some money?” “I got a right to eat, too.”

He ignored the reasonable conventions that encouraged people to keep their distance. He was literally in your face. This was at a time in New York when such encounters were not uncommon and when the American Civil Liberties Union fought heroically for the right of insane people to live on the street. Which also…

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