Shot: a Poem for Mike Brown

Item

Tessara Dudley. “Shot: A Poem for Mike Brown.”, Documenting Ferguson, accessed August 1, 2026, https://digitalexhibits.library.washu.edu/s/ferguson/item/55002

Title: Shot: a Poem for Mike Brown
Description: Shot: a Poem for Mike Brown

I am heartsick tonight
my hopes and prayers are with
the residents of an apartment complex in
Ferguson, Missouri
it’s 2 in the afternoon and a teenage boy
is visiting his grandmother
when he is shot by police
for suspicion
they later claim
of petty theft
this boy of 18 shot in the face
and in the aftermath
tanks and tear gas and dogs
employed against his family and neighbours
his image tarnished
his community vilified
his murder the window to employ
police violence against the wider circle
of Black people in Missouri
and America
Mike Brown isn’t Trayvon
or Renisha
he’s not Jordan Davis
or Sean Bell
or any of the many others
we have named before
will name again
but his fate is the same
and in his wake is a mourning community
wondering
again
why?
Date: 11 August, 2014
Creator: Tessara Dudley
Location: Portland, OR
Posted Date: 2014-09-24 1:47:57
Rights: See rights page
Identifier: df_8651
Format: Document

Tessara Dudley. “Shot: A Poem for Mike Brown.”, Documenting Ferguson, accessed August 1, 2026, https://digitalexhibits.library.washu.edu/s/ferguson/item/55002