Subject: [SocialistWorker.org] Ramarley's call still rings out
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http://socialistworker.org/2012/12/17/ramarleys-call-still-rings-out
Comment: Lichi D'Amelio
======== RAMARLEY'S CALL STILL RINGS OUT =====================================
Lichi D'Amelio reports from New York City on a protest to confront Ramarley
Graham's murderer--and a powerful memorial dinner held in his honor.
December 17, 2012
CONSTANCE MALCOLM and Franclot Graham entered a Bronx courthouse on December
11 and for the third time came face to face with Richard Haste, the New York
Police Department (NYPD) officer who murdered their 18-year-old son Ramarley
Graham last February.
The case has not yet gone to trial--Haste was indicted on June 13 on first-
and second-degree manslaughter charges.
The uncontested details of Ramarley's killing are well known: Haste and his
fellow officers from the Bronx Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit broke into
Graham's home where Haste shot him once through the chest as he stood in his
bathroom. The witnesses to these horrific events were Graham's grandmother
and 6-year-old brother. Haste claims--as all police officers who kill unarmed
Black men seem to--that he thought Graham had a gun.
Incidents of police officers murdering Black and Brown men and women are all
too common in New York City and across the country. What's unique about this
case--are nearly so--is that criminal charges have been brought against
Haste. This hasn't happened in New York City since 2007, when three police
officers were indicted on charges of manslaughter, reckless endangerment and
assault after they killed 23-year-old Sean Bell in a hail of 50 bullets. The
inclusion of the lesser charges didn't prevent all three officers in the Bell
case from being acquitted.
So it's true that the odds are stacked against Malcolm and Graham winning
justice for their son. But the inspiring struggle they have led--and they
support they have garnered--offers the hope of victory. When Malcolm and
Graham entered the courtroom on December 11, they were flanked by nearly 100
supporters and family members. Meanwhile, outside the courthouse, 150 to 200
supporters rallied, chanting, "Richard Haste, you can't hide. We charge you
with homicide!"
Among those who stood by the Graham family in court was Kenneth Chamberlain
Jr., whose 68-year-old father was murdered in his home by Officer Anthony
Carelli in White Plains, N.Y., on November 19, after Chamberlain accidentally
set off his medic alert button.
Also there in solidarity was Oumou Bah, the sister of 28-year-old Mohamed
Bah, murdered by the NYPD on September 25 of this year after his mother
called 911. So was Margarita Rosario, one of the founders of Parents Against
Police Brutality and mother of Anthony Rosario, who was killed by police in
1995 along with his cousin Hilton Vega as both lay face down on the
ground--after 16 years, Rosario is still not giving up the fight for her son.
Outside, among the chanting demonstrators, stood Natasha Duncan, the sister
of 23-year-old Shantel Davis, killed by NYPD officer Phillip Atkins in June
of this year as she sat trapped in a car begging him not to kill her; and
Danette Chavis, mother of Gregory Chavis, left by police to bleed to death
after suffering a gunshot wound in 2004.
This show of solidarity by other family members of police murder victims
wasn't just a spontaneous act, but the result of a dedicated outreach
campaign that has defined Malcolm and Graham's efforts to win justice.
Time and again they have stated in clear terms that the fight for justice
goes beyond Ramarley's case and must include all victims of police murder.
For this reason, Ramarley's Call--the committee of family members and
supporters who have been organizing around the case--puts on events that
include family members of other police murder victims whenever possible.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ON DECEMBER 8, just three days before they were to appear in court, Malcolm
and Graham organized a dinner in honor of Ramarley.
Held at an SEIU hall, the nearly 300 attendees included all of the victims'
family members who supported the Graham family in court, as well as Nicole
Paultre Bell, fiancé of Sean Bell; Yusef Salaam, exonerated in the Central
Park Five case after spending years behind bars. Leading civil rights figures
such as Cornel West, Rev. Al Sharpton, Brooklyn City Council member Jumaane
Williams and former aide to the city's public advocate Kirsten John Foy
joined them in speaking from the stage in support of the Graham family.
The event was both historic and devastating. One family member after another
told their stories as emotional attendees held their heads in their hands and
shed tears for the losses these families have endured.
Margarita Rosario wept as she described how painful each year without her son
has been and how the holidays in particular are only reminders that "he's
never coming back." Nicole Paultre Bell explained to audience members that
her young children lost a loving father, the youngest of whom, a baby when
Sean was killed, only knows him through stories. Danette Chavis brilliantly
closed out the evening by pointing out the hypocrisy of a system that
punishes petty criminals and the innocent, while the police get away with
murder every time.
Those fighting for racial justice in New York City have our work cut out for
us. There are some key dates to organize around in the coming months.
February 2 will mark one year since Ramarley Graham was murdered. The family
and their supporters are gearing up to publicly remember the events of that
day and to show the police they will never stop fighting for Ramarley.
Richard Haste's lawyers used the December 11 court date to file yet another
motion to extend until March 26. Their strategy is to draw the case out in
hopes that support will wane. Our strategy is to keep building support in the
months to come so that we have more people than ever inside and outside of
the courtroom on March 26.
The sympathy and solidarity that all of these family members have received
from perfect strangers and have shown to one another is beyond heartening. It
is proof positive that the potential exists for a struggle that can challenge
the police and the entire system that perpetuates racist abuse and violence.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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