Last week on Friday evening, with humbleness and curiosity we observed the death of Eric Garner, a Staten Island man who was killed in the custody of the New York City Police Department on July 17, 2014. It was a classy and beautiful ceremony led with angelic music played by an orchestra (Leonard Bernstein, Jessie Montgomery, William Grant Still, speeches by the likes of Terrance McKnight, Vernon Wells, and Vincent Warren (keynote speakers), illustrations of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Ezell Ford, Alejandro Nieto, Darrien Hunt and Israel Hernandez shown depicted by Molly Crabapple and a short but heartfelt, reminiscent speech by his daughter, Erica Garner. It was hard to hear the words she spoke in regard to her father, remembering him as he was and recalling a time when they made a seafood dinner together, in which he played around with his children, chasing them with live crabs and soon belted out harmonious laughs together.

It was an evening of beaticiuous presentation and a night that all will remember. It comes by way of a tragic event that we will also remember and fight against for the rest of our days; the statement is met with verity. As we departed, hundreds of protestors — of all races — marched down 14th Street, adjacent to where the Salvation Army is located where they chanted “No justice. No peace… These racists as cops. we don’t need them”.

“Eric Garner is remembered as a good man,” just as one of the guest speakers shared. For more information about The Dream Unfinished or ways to get involved, please check the official website.

All images by Kai Miller

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