Like Narene, like all the mothers gathered for the meeting, her teenage son had been shot and killed by police. “A police officer shot my only son, Ryan Lee Stokes, in the back.”On 20 January 2018, a policeman had shot Sheila’s 17-year-old son in the back of the head. That night, Ryan, Ollie and other friends planned to meet up in the Kansas City Power & Light District, a downtown touristy area with restaurants and live music. Many bear a deep shame that their birth mothers didn’t want them and see themselves as bad or defective. “I cry for all the mothers,” Narene said.

Source: The Guardian August 17, 2021 21:56 UTC