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Chapter 3: Because the Young Man Killed My Son

Pre-Reading Glossary

  • Eurocentric

  • Disproportionate

  • Self-determination

  • Criminalize

  • Dehumanization

  • Institution

  • Miseducation

Essential Question

How is compassion revolutionary?

Comprehension Check

Question 1

Why did Chief Sheats work so hard to invest in the “Weed and Seed” program?

Question 2

Did the residents of the Thomasville community trust that Mawuli could safely travel through their community?

Question 3

What does Chief Sheats realize he must do after his son is killed?

Question 4

Mawuli says “We are also called to engage in organizing efforts to address the cause of our condition and not just the symptoms.” What are some of the causes of the Black “condition”?

Question 5

Why do you think Mawuli shares Chief Sheats’s story?

Question 6

What kind of work can you do to invest in your community?

Extension:

Problem solving organizer

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Imagine you are Chief Sheats and write a poem or song about the realization that investing in young people is how we avoid the senseless violence he experienced with the loss of his son.

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