The poem succinctly captured a systemic problem in the Maryland city back then that it has never managed to shake. The only thing he recalls from that stay which lasted more than half a year was the day another little boy about his age-but different notably in his being white-stuck out his tongue and proceeded to call-without any provocation-the N-word. Composed by poet Countee Cullen, this short work of verse recalls the writer’s first visit to Baltimore when he was a young child. “Incident” is also the title of one of the most famous poems to come out of the Harlem Renaissance. It is an “incident” that still remains under scrutiny if not investigation by those not associated with law enforcement. Gray’s eventual death while in a coma came as the result traumatic injuries suffered during police custody though the exact cause of those injuries has never been adequately explained. It was April 2015 and this particular victim was named Freddie Gray whose death in the custody of law enforcement introduced a brand new dimension into this plague: death as the result of just plain pure lack of interest in preserving humanity. The stimulating event was what in many ways could accurately termed just the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of deaths of black men at the hands of police officers across the country. The subtitle, “The Fiery Reckoning of an American City” refers to the city in this these tensions escaped. Green- Five Days-refers to a span of time which threatened to detonate into the worst exhibition of rioting in an American city since the violence in Los Angeles in 1994 sparked by outrage over the inexplicable acquittal of white policemen captured on video brutally beating a black man half to death. The title of a collaborative effort between Wes Moore and Erica L. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

Five Days by Wes Moore