Southern Department Store Incident

Power To The People

Black man, middle age,
dressed soiled work clothes,
has item in hand.

Stopped in aisle, grabbed,
by casually dressed black man.

Black man pushes other black man,
runs through merchandise counter,
display toppling over, glass breaking.

Customers scream,
move away from black man
in flight.

White department store security employee 
comes down over black man’s back 
hard with nightstick truncheon—
black man’s face contorts painfully—
in quest for escape.

Black man now in wild 
flight through anything in way.

Breaking through front swing doors of 
department store onto Canal Street sidewalk
running over pedestrians.

Black man—running, staggering through
Canal Street traffic—report, gun fired.
Black man’s body jerks violently backwards,
shot middle of back.

Downtown New Orleans police push back
people milling around, bleeding, 
gurgling, crumpled black man. 
Squad cars scream in 
from all directions.

Scene of dead black man 
surrounded by police.

Southern Department Incident
Power To The People