Five years later, Wanda Cooper-Jones is still dealing with the impact of the death of her son, Ahmaud Arbery.
Speaking with PEOPLE, Cooper-Jones spoke about how the holiday season is a difficult one.
“After Thanksgiving, there’s Christmas, then after Christmas, I have to relive the days that it actually happened in February. So my days are kind of dark, but I’m pushing through,” Cooper-Jones said. Arbery was murdered on Feb. 23, 2020.
After going out for a run on a suburban Georgia street, Arbery was chased, attacked, and gunned down by three White men. They claimed he was a suspect in a robbery.
In January 2022, Greg and Travis McMichael were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and an additional 20 years. William “Roddie” Bryan was also sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
After Arbery’s death, Cooper-Jones established the Ahmaud Arbery Foundation in her son’s honor. Adidas has partnered as a contributor to the foundation. The brand also selected Cooper-Jones to be spotlighted in the brand’s new Community Archives zine. The partnership chronicles her story of a mother who suffered a personal tragedy and is now helping the masses.
“Every Feb. 23, with the sponsorship of Adidas, we have a community run where people in the running community come out, and they drop the 2.23 miles,” she said. “It’s kind of dark in the morning, but just coming out and seeing people that are still running with Maud, it’s very, very rewarding.”
Cooper-Jones shared that Arbery was having mental challenges before his tragic death.
“He had moved out. I’m not sure what happened to my baby, but he was going through something. I saw it, and I thought it was my job as mom to let him walk through it,” Cooper-Jones recalled. “Ahmaud would run every day. When he would finish running, he would come in. I think he used running as a form of therapy.”
Because of Adidas’ support, the foundation has given out $75,000 in scholarships to young men who attended Abery’s high school.
“If I could tell Wanda from 2020 anything, I’d tell her not to give up,” she says. “I’d tell her to give yourself grace and to allow people around you to help. You can’t take this journey alone.”