How To Get Away with Murder

By Johnierennee Nia Nelson

Live in the U.S. A.
Wear a badge; wear plain clothes.
Wear white skin.

Make sure your target
is a young black (or brown) male
-the younger, the better.

Choke, strangle and suffocate your victim.
Shoot your target from a distance.
Shoot your target from up close.

Create your own narrative
of why your “savage” actions were warranted.
Present your fabrication to a state-level grand jury.

When that grand jury
grants the wishes of the
prosecuting attorney
… flash a smug smile.

Such non-indictments
will stun, mystify and confuse
certain segments of the American public.

People of color already know
that this is the American way.

P.S. “I can’t breathe.”