Just before a deadly pandemic forced us inside our homes, Ahmaud Arbery decided to do what he and many others do each day: Go for an early morning jog. On Feb. 23, 2020, he would make his last trek down Boykin Ridge Drive, located in a middle-class community in Brunswick, Georgia.
A year later, Arbery's family is still waiting for justice in a case that was improperly investigated at the start and still awaits a trial date. The Savannah Morning News decided to examine the life of Arbery, affectionally called ‘Maud or “Quez” by family and friends, through the eyes of Black men who’ve shared similar lived experiences in Georgia.
While the impact of Arbery’s death could lead to the potential repeal and rewriting of Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law, his native Brunswick is still working to rebuild its city in the wake of his death.
Arbery’s cousin Demetris Frazier and a few of Arbery's friends created the 2:23 Foundation, an organization that initially began to spread the news about Arbery but has since morphed into an entity to keep his memory alive. On Tuesday, the group is finishing Arbery's run down Boykin Ridge Drive.
Remembering Ahmaud Arbery: 'I cherish every moment we shared and I wish there could be more'
Demetris Frazier talks about the bond he shared with his cousin Ahmaud Arbery and how he's working to make sure people know the man he was.
Richard Burkhart, Savannah Morning News
Arbery's killing also exposed Brunswick's racially divisive cracks. Brunswick native Shemeka Sorrells said residents struggle with upward mobility despite being the largest city in Glynn County. The city has a 34% poverty rate compared with 15% for the county. The city’s median income is roughly $28,000, nearly half that of Glynn County’s.
“So, you're talking about a place where a large percentage of the folks there work service industry jobs, which by nature are hourly paid jobs,” she said, adding another challenge in the county is retaining young Black talent.
“People leave and get educated and there's nothing for them to come back to in terms of industry,” she said. “There's no jobs to come back to. You gain a lot of your progressive ideals and a lot of your exposure to diversity and different ways of thinking by way of your education. And so, if that leaves and never comes back, then you don't have any progression.”
More: Candlelight vigil to mark one-year-anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery's death
Sorrells is cofounder of A Better Glynn, an organization aimed at fostering social justice advocacy, leadership and civic engagement in the county. Arbery's death was the catalyst for the group, which also focuses on “creating a place where everyone can thrive and that this never happens again.”
The group has been instrumental in organizing voter registration drives that led to residents ousting former Glynn County district attorney, Jackie Johnson, whose office was soundly criticized for their handling of the case.
![Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery who was killed in Brunswick, Ga. last February, has since become a leader in the protests for Black Lives Matter. Photographed at Pendleton King Park in Augusta, Ga., Monday morning July 20, 2020. [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/02/17/NSMN/3e7bcb8e-aeec-4548-9b74-c76fa3fdaf63-GAAUG-071920-Arbery2_MH.JPG)
With this story, the Savannah Morning News sought to show the widespread impact Arbery’s death had on men who look like him and the city in which he was raised. Through this, we hope to show why Arbery’s case still matters and the impact it will have on Brunswick residents and beyond.
You can read more about the kind of person Ahmaud was, what he means to family and the Black men we interviewed, and what his legacy will be in the Savannah Morning News.
Raisa is a Watchdog and Investigative Reporter for The Savannah Morning News. Contact her at rhabersham@gannett.com.