August 31, 2019 marked the “third” Empowerment Public Safety Day with my fellow activist who stood for Ramarley Graham! We met at the house of Ramarley Graham. BACKGROUND: There were three officers who entered Constance mother of Ramarley humble abode on February 2, 2012. Ramarley Graham, an unarmed black teen gunned down at his home in the Bronx in 2012 by NYPD Officer Richard Haste. Most of us were a part of an organization in our own communities. But, Ramarley Graham tragedy brought several activists together on another level making our experience with the Ramarley Graham Family much deeper.
We hung out in Pat Williams Park located in Queens Village. Giving back to the community with love is our best explanation. Born Miller CEO of Families in Training called for meetings to prepare for the annual give back. Honey Johnson wanted to make sure that children were prepared for school. The team agreed that each child will benefit from arriving on the first day with supplies in order to be a part of the race. Children were able to pick out their own book bag loaded with supplies.
Our chef Frank Sha Francois organized the menu. There were delicious hot dishes of curry chicken, rice & peas, stew chicken and salad for all to enjoy while playing in the park. The feeding of the community is a successful idea following the Chicken Murphy Foundation CEO Tayloon Murphy.
STEAM activities were a blast. For the third year Cynthia Turnquest-Jones of Tha BUMP set up a Science Table in the park. There were some students who were breathless after the mentos and Diet Pepsi experiment. “I think my favorite is the Lava Lamp Experiment,” shared Cynthia. We had two girls who were experts in making SLIME who volunteered to show the younger children how to use use only two ingredients to create the perfect SLIME. Adults interacted with children on an intimate level while they played in the park. Garfield from Millers List shared, “I really like the idea of the whistles in the bags from Tha Brown Urban Mother Partnership.” The purpose of the whistle of to alert someone if you are being followed or harmed.
We used our time, talent, and treasure to serve children who were absolutely beautiful, needed our conversations, and made our day.
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