5 Years and 4 blocks
There’s a quote floating around that I’ve seen in the comments of content surrounding the murder of Renee Nicole Good that says, “It only took 5 years and 4 blocks to go from kneeling on a black man’s neck to shooting a white woman in the face.”
On Wednesday, January 7, 2026, we collectively looked on in horror as our social feeds and breaking news alerts filled with video accounts of a masked, armed ICE agent shooting an unarmed, 37-year old wife and mother 3 times in the head, while her wife sat helpless in the passenger seat, clinging to their dog, surrounded by the stuffed animals of her 6-year old.
It only took 5 years and 4 blocks to go from kneeling on a black man’s neck to shooting a white woman in the face.
Unknown
Renee was a mother of three. An award-winning poet, writer, and by all accounts, the kind of person that takes care of other people. She was not an activist. She had no criminal record.
I spent that day feeling like I might jump out of my own skin. It hasn’t even been a year since the inauguration of the current president, and already things have escalated to a place where the government is killing its citizens, in broad daylight, while people look on helpless and horrified. We gathered last Thursday, January 8, to take a moment to sit with how heavy things feel. We needed to take a moment to stand together, reflect, and to demand justice for Renee.
Remembering the Victims
As I attempted to collect my thoughts ahead of meeting friends and fellow citizens on the Uptown Shelby square, I wanted to be sure we also recognized the thousands of others that have been and will continue to be affected by this nightmare. Renee’s murder was shocking. Violent. Unjust. Her life is lost, and the lives of her family, friends, and anyone that bore witness to her murder are forever changed.
It’s not lost on me that Renee Nicole Good is a white woman, which in this country means that her death, beyond its completely outrageous circumstances, attracts more attention than others. It is with this in mind, as well as Renee’s work as a volunteer observer, an effort to show up for her neighbors that are being harassed and persecuted based on the color of their skin, that we also recognize those killed whose names have not garnered the same media attention.
Each had a life, a family.
They were loved.
Silverio Villegas González was shot and killed by ICE in September. He was in his vehicle, after dropping one of his children off at daycare. He was 38.
Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez was hit and killed by an SUV while running from ICE as they kidnapped people outside of a Home Depot.
Jamie Alanis Garcia broke his neck after falling from a roof in July while ICE rounded up his co-workers.
Josué Castro Rivera, just 24, was also hit and killed by a vehicle during an ICE traffic stop while he was on his way to work. Investigations have since shown that ICE did not have a removal order for Josué.
These are the names we know, and in no way accounts for the thousands detained without access to the outside world, those deported, often to countries they have never visited and whose language and culture they do not know, those who are suffering human rights violations at the hands of our government, the families that have been broken and separated, and those whose records have completely disappeared.
Demand Due Process
Due process of law, enshrined in the Fifth and 14th Amendments, requires the government to provide a person with notice and an opportunity to make their case in court before depriving them of life, liberty, or property.
When those detained by ICE are denied medical care and die in custody, when they are snatched off the street, or from work, or church, or school without a judicial warrant, or when they are shot in the face while exercising their right to observe, they are denied the rights granted by the US Constitution.
Due process of law, enshrined in the Fifth and 14th Amendments, requires the government to provide a person with notice and an opportunity to make their case in court before depriving them of life, liberty, or property.
Get Loud.
Only caring about your own rights is exactly how you lose them and so, we exercise our right to gather and peacefully protest. We use the modicum of privilege we have to stand together, be visible, and create a network of support that we can use to build peaceful momentum because the truth of the matter is that NONE OF US ARE SAFE.
They want you scared, and small and quiet. They are DEPENDING ON our fear, our complicity, our silence.
WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.
We will show up for each other, and we will continue to call out the injustices that are happening. For each other. For Renee.
Be Good. ✊✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿❤️
