BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Four years after Ahmaud Arbery was gunned down while jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, near Brunswick, a prayer vigil was held to honor his memory on the day named for the 25-year-old.
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Arbery’s aunt, Diane Jackson, organized the vigil at Ahmaud Arbery Park at 1620 Townsend St. on “Ahmaud Arbery Day” in Georgia.
“I am here to tell them that Ahmaud’s life meant a lot to us, and we are going to keep on fighting,” Jackson said.
People from all backgrounds, ages, and races showed up to the park to remember the tragedy and said they wanted to use the day to heal. They said what was meant for evil turned out to be for the community’s good.
Arbery’s killers targeted him because he was Black.
Gregory McMichael, his son Travis, who pulled the trigger, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted of murder on the state level and hate crimes in a federal trial.
Jackson said she wanted the vigil to be a way for people to not only share their memories of Arbery but to continue working toward community healing following Arbery’s murder.
Jackson said her nephew had an infectious smile, and she remembers him as kind-hearted and loving.
“There wasn’t anything you could ask him to do, he didn’t do it with a smile,” she said. “Ahmaud was a person where I don’t care what you asked for, if he had it, he gave it to you.”
There were pastors and community leaders speaking and gospel singing, in addition to praying.
Jackson said she wants the event to help heal others who have lost children to gun violence in the city and all over the world.
“It is still hard,” Jackson said of dealing with Arbery’s death. “It is still hard. Just to think about the way that his life was taken. We will never forget about this because of the way he was killed. You would never think that something like this would’ve happened in this little community in Glynn County.”
The McMichaels were sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for chasing down Arbery while he was jogging in the neighborhood, and then fatally shooting him. Bryan, who filmed the encounter, was also sentenced to life but has a chance for parole.
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The three men have appealed their hate crime convictions and have hearings set for March 27 in Atlanta.
Jackson said her battle with sorrow and grief because of her nephew’s murder is a struggle.
“Every day you have to cry,” she said. “Some nights, you cry before you go to bed. Sometimes you cry in the mornings before you get up because you would never think that something like this would happen in your family.”
Moving forward, Jackson wants Ahmaud Arbery Day, which was established in Georgia last year, to be a day of recognition, honor and action to close racial divides.
“I don’t want anyone to forget what happened to Ahmaud,” Jackson said. “I want them to always know that we are not going to forget what happened to Ahmaud, and we don’t want the community to forget what happened to Ahmaud.”
Pastor Jane Page said she has seen a transformation in the community since his death but she still feels pain when she drives by Satilla Shores.
“I get a gut-wrenching pain. Because it kind of comes back to me about what exactly happened,” Page said. “And we can’t celebrate it, it’s a day to remind us what happened. And to remind us of the horrendous death that happened there. And many others that we don’t know about, we are realizing that this one was more public, we are aware of it more, but these kinds of things happen.”