Elias Ortega-Aponte

Elias Ortega-Aponte, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Afro-Latinos/a Religions and Cultural Studies
Drew University

As I geared up to teach two social justice themed courses this Fall, my summer preparations were disrupted by the news of two tragedies and the reflections they prompted. First was the death of Omar Abrego, beaten to death by police on August 2 in Los Angeles. Witness reports claim that Abrego was taken out of his car and beaten up by two police officers for at least 10 minutes, and left in a pool of blood. The father of three would die hours later in a