Amadou Bailo Diallo was born in Liberia in 1975, just 3 days after me. He grew up in Liberia, Guinea, Togo and Thailand. He liked to read, play soccer and was fluent in 6 languages. He studied in Thailand and Singapore and France. He believed an education meant you could achieve anything. He moved to the United States when he was 24 to continue studying computer science. One early morning in New York City, outside his apartment, while reaching for his wallet, police officers fired 41 shots at Amadou, and hit him with 19. Amadou Diallo is buried in a village in the highland region of Guinea.
The Dialo shooting has been written about by many artists, including Bruce Springsteen's haunting American Skin (41 Shots) and the furious 41:19 by Public Enemy.
Talib Kweli's The Proud deals with a wide range of topics from terrorism, war, violence, guns, racial profiling, and Amadou. It's both haunting and furious.
