Ahmaud Arbery is remembered in his hometown with a major honor with street signs named after him for 2.7 miles.
The celebration took place after it was reported that the three men who shot and killed Arbery received life sentences in the U.S. District Court for committing federal hate crimes.
The unveiling of the signs began at the intersection of the Brunswick African-American Cultural Center near a wall painted with Arbery’s face.
Brenda Davis, a dock worker at Brunswick’s seaport who also lives on Albany Street where the stretch of renaming will continue said, “That’s an honor, is all I can say. He means something to everybody, though a lot of people didn’t know him.”
We reported that Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot by father and son duo, Greg and Travis McMichael, on February 23rd, 2020, while he was out for a jog in the Satilla Shores subdivision.
The McMichaels reportedly grabbed their guns and chased Arbery in their pickup truck after they suspected he was a burglar.
Their neighbor, William Bryan also joined in the chase and recorded the shooting on his cellphone. The three men were arrested two months after the killing.
In December, city commissioners voted to have Arbery’s name placed on the city street as a “symbol of strength and unity within our community.”
Former Mayor of Brunswick, Cornell Harvey said, “We did this because we want to always remember what happened. You say, ‘Why would you want to remember such a tragedy?’ Because sometimes it takes that to make a change. I am so sorry for the family… but history seized us.”
Ahmaud’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said that she takes pride in what has been accomplished in the wake of her son’s murder.
“I look at the changed Ahmaud has brought since his passing. My only prayer is you guys will not forget his name,” she said to the crowd.
“Please promise me you guys will always say his name,” she added.