1 teen, 6 cops, 1 bullet and 5 years of a Black family screaming for justice

Dear friends and supporters,

Today is Ramarley Graham’s 24th birthday, Or–it would have been–if on Feb 2, 2012,  the NYPD had not trailed Ramarley (an unarmed teenager), broke down the door to his house, and shot him at close range in the chest, killing him–in front of his grandmother and 6-year-old brother.

I hope you will take a moment to read the article I wrote for Colorlines (with Amy Myers, intern at the Center for Constitutional Rights) about Ramarley, how he was killed, and the family’s struggle for some modicum of justice.

Excerpt of the article (published today in Colorlines)  is below, and you can also read it here.

As always, thoughts, questions, responses are welcomed.

In solidarity with all who have lost a loved one to police violence,
Jen Marlowe
Donkeysaddle Projects
www.donkeysaddle.org

Ramarley with his little brother and grandmother–both of whom were home when NYPD killed Ramarley with one shot

1 Teen, 6 Cops, 1 Bullet and 5 Years of a Black Family Screaming for Justice
by Jen Marlowe and Amy Myers

A few months before his big brother, Ramarley Graham, was shot to death by a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, 6-year-old Chinnor Campbell was being bullied in school. His 18-year-old brother showed him how to put up his hands to defend himself and demonstrated how to punch using a pillow. “You’ve got to fight back, or people will keep bullying you,” Ramarley coached.

Their mother, Constance Malcolm, says these lessons were typical of their relationship: “Ramarley would take him to the park, pick him up from school, just do what a big brother would do with his little brother.”

Chinnor didn’t have his big brother’s guidance for much longer. On February 2, 2012, a White NYPD officer named Richard Haste entered Graham’s Bronx apartment and fired a fatal shot into his chest. He was only feet away, as was their maternal grandmother, Patricia Hartley. 

Graham would be turning 24 today (April 12) if Haste and his colleagues had not followed him home from a bodega they were surveilling, kicked in the door and fatally shot him.

Read the rest of the article here

Message from Troy Davis’s family to Michael Brown’s family and the people of Ferguson

TO THE FAMILY OF MICHAEL BROWN AND THE PEOPLE OF FERGUSON, FROM THE FAMILY OF TROY DAVIS

We are writing to express our heartfelt condolences on the brutal killing of your loved one, Michael Brown. My family knows, all too well, the pain of losing a loved one at the hands of state violence. Our family extends our love and our support to you, and wish there were something more we could do to lessen the pain of your loss.
We are also writing to express our solidarity with all those in Ferguson who are standing for justice for Mike Brown, who are demanding accountability, and who are organizing against the racism and dehumanization that is at the root of Michael’s killing and so many other examples of state violence and racist violence against black men and boys in our communities.
Our voices are added to yours, that there be no more families plunged into grief, as your family is mourning, as my family grieves still, like the still-grieving families of Eric Garner, Oscar Grant, Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, and Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.
We must continue to stand up and speak out until there is justice for Mike Brown and so many others.
We must continue to stand up and speak out until all young men and women in this country are seen for who they are–human beings deserving to be treated with respect, with dignity, and with equality.
In solidarity, and with sorrow,
Kimberly Davis, sister of Troy Anthony Davis (innocent death row prisoner executed by the state of Georgia on September 21, 2011)
on behalf of the Davis family

Kimberly Davis, sister of Troy Davis: “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot!”

Troy Davis’s nephew, 20-yo De’Jaun, in solidarity with Mike Brown and Ferguson