The narrator of the poem is a weary, emotionally drained observer of racial violence in America. Facing the collective trauma of Black death, the speaker feels the futility of their own art while simultaneously demanding a war or a song to honor the murdered youth. They actively critique the societal hierarchies that immortalize white victims while erasing Black ones.

An 18-year-old unarmed Black man whose fatal shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, inspires the poem. Within the text, he represents both his individual self and the countless other nameless Black boys whose lives are taken by police violence. His death acts as the catalyst for the speaker's grief and demands for justice.

A white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. He stops Mike Brown and Dorian Johnson after matching Brown to the description of a theft suspect. This confrontation quickly escalates, ending with Wilson firing twelve rounds and fatally wounding the unarmed teenager.

A friend of Mike Brown who is present during the events leading up to the shooting in Ferguson. He leaves the convenience store with Brown and witnesses the subsequent deadly altercation with the police.

A mythological Greek queen whose kidnapping sparks the legendary war. In the poem, she acts as a symbol of white privilege and the historical immortalization of white victims. The speaker compares her highly valued life and the subsequent thousand ships launched in her honor against the societal indifference toward murdered Black youth.

Traditionally an ancient city, Troy is personified in the poem as a young Black boy who is shot in his neighborhood. His casual murder is treated as an ordinary, everyday occurrence, contrasting the massive, world-altering war fought over Helen.