Seattle Send-off for Families Going to NYC for Rise Up October
October 19, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Shirley Walker, sister of David Walker, with other Seattle family members in background. Photos: Special to revcom.us
Saturday, October 17. Seventy-five people came together at the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Seattle for a forum and send-off for family members from the Northwest heading to New York City for Rise Up October. They were joined by clergy and others to condemn police murder and raise money for the 100 Families Project.
People were welcomed by Rev. Robert Jeffrey, minister of New Hope, who said, “Today I hope that we come here to unite with those who are victims of what I believe is a criminal justice system bent against the poor and people of color. It is in the light of this geographic and judicial genocide that all people of conscience must now stand and say enough.”
Rev. Lawrence Willis, president of United Black Clergy in Seattle said, “My heart is heavy, but I feel honored to be part of this movement, because this IS a movement. And as I see the theme Rise Up October, it reminds me of my grandmother cooking bread, and the how the hotter it gets in the oven, the higher the bread rises. And so we see that today. The hotter it gets in our states and communities, the more we’re rising up against police brutality.”
There was tremendous and uplifting music by Patrinell Wright and the award-winning and world-renowned Total Experience Gospel Choir.
The heart of the night was heartbreaking but very inspiring testimony from the families and friends of Daniel Covarrubias, David Walker, John T. Williams, Victor Duffy, Oscar Perez Giron, Kenneth Boyd, and Danielle Willard—all murdered by police in the Northwest. The family members and friends stood together on stage, holding pictures of their loved ones and supporting each other.
Lanna Covarrubias told of how her brother Daniel, unarmed, was killed by police in Lakewood, Washington, this past April, at a time when he had just finished his first quarter in college. Daniel was a member of the Suquamish tribe, and a descendant of Chief Seattle. Lanna said she told people this “not because his life is any more valuable than any of the other victims, but because it’s a reminder this genocide is still happening and the modern-day lynchings continue to happen today. It’s just hidden behind the justice system as legal discrimination.”
Lanna told of how she had gone into the streets to protest the murder by police of John T. Williams in 2012, a Native woodcarver who was murdered within four seconds of encountering police while he walked down the street carving. The cop was let off without charges. She said she felt after protesting, she had done her job, but now realizes she could have done so much more. Someone from the audience yelled, “You’re doing it now.” Lanna finished by saying, “I’m going to keep fighting until change happens and I want us all to stand up, and I thank you guys for being here, and let’s wake ’em up!”
Lanna Covarrubias, brother of Daniel Covarrubias, Deanne Mills, mother of Victor Duffy, Gloria Mills, grandmother of Victor Duffy, Melissa Kennedy, mother of Danielle Willard, Jamilla Gardener, friend of Victor Duffy.
Marilyn Covarrubias, Daniel’s mother, broke down as she started to speak but then fought through tears. “It’s too hard! Every day I wake up crying, every night I go to sleep crying. I had a dream the other night. I dreamt that Daniel was upstairs lying on his bed. He was moaning and flapping his arms around in his sleep, like he was having a bad dream. I walked over and sat next to him on his bed. I touched his hair and I rubbed his back. And I said, ‘It’s OK, Dan, it’s just a bad dream, you’re having a bad dream and mommy’s here.’ I woke up and realized that it would never be OK for me, enraged, sobbing gallons of tears, because it’s not OK, it’s never going to be OK. I’ll feel bad and get sick to my stomach when I think about what happened to him.... We have to get up and we have to do something about this. We can’t let this go on. I cry for the kids. I relive it every single time I turn on the news and find out that somebody else has been killed and it makes me just cry for the mothers who are going through the same thing I’m going through. And we’ve got to stop it. We have to stand together and we have to make a difference. We have to make change. We can’t let them get away with this anymore. It can’t be sanctioned.”
People in the audience—a diverse mix of Black, white, Latino and Native, were extremely moved by listening to the family members especially. More people got connected with Rise Up October. At least $700 was raised, including from bracelets and T-shirts family members have made to honor and demand justice for their loved ones.
Several of these family members will be traveling from the West Coast to New York, and are greatly looking forward to joining with many other families there. Some families came forward to speak at the last minute when they heard the event was happening.
Following are excerpts from statements at the October 17 event:
Rev. Robert Jeffrey, minister at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church:
Today I hope that we come here to unite with those who are victims of what I believe is a criminal justice system bent against the poor and people of color. It is in the light of this geographic and judicial genocide, that all people of conscience must now stand and say enough. Murder should not be a law enforcement alternative. People deserve due process. We’ve had enough in this country of grieving mothers, enough of lying grand juries, enough false police reports, enough biased news reporting and enough dying Black men and women and of all races. What we do here today should signal to all who hear, No justice, no peace.
Rev. Lawrence Willis, president of United Black Clergy of Seattle:
My heart is heavy, but I feel honored to be part of this movement, because this is a movement. And as I see the theme Rise Up October, it reminds me of my grandmother cooking bread, and the how the hotter it gets in the oven, the higher the bread rises. And so we see that today. The hotter it gets in our states and communities, the more we’re rising up against police brutality. Can we give that a hand? I believe today people are saying enough is enough. They’re willing to stand up, no matter what and so I’m honored to be able to stand with you, to go wherever we need to let the police department know, you cannot shoot and ask questions later. Enough is enough! We have to let them know, just because they have a badge, they don’t have the right to shoot us down like dogs, to shoot anybody down like dogs. ...I see that those today are rising up against police brutality, bad juries, just the people are feeling so hurt and upset that I’ve been staying up at night. Because I’m wondering if my daughter or my niece or my nephew, after going to a school dance or go out to the movie theaters, or coming from a restaurant to eat, if they’re going to get pulled over and shot. We shouldn’t be thinking like that, but that’s the situation and the times we live at, where we have to worry about our children, family members and loved ones going somewhere, wondering if they’re going to make it back, so enough is enough. No Justice, No Peace! I’m with you, God bless you.
Lanna Covarrubias, sister of Daniel Covarrubias, killed by Lakewood, Washington police in April 2015:
Native Americans are killed at the highest rate because we’re the smallest population, but no matter what race you are, nobody deserves to be murdered. We all deserve due process. My brother was a descendant of Chief Seattle. I say that not because his life is any more valuable than any of the other victims, but because it’s a reminder this genocide is still happening and the modern day lynchings continue to happen today. It’s just hidden behind the justice system as legal discrimination.
I feel like we’ll never get closure and it’s a struggle. I can’t even grieve properly because I’m constantly fighting, I haven’t really even had a chance to stop and grieve because we just out instantly and rallied and took to the streets, we wanted to scream out there the injustice that was happening here in our community.
I know I have to keep fighting. It’s just seems like it’s been years since Daniel has passed, its’ only been 7 months. Me and my brother were so close.
I struggle because I stay awake at night thinking how can I get through to people, how I can get through to let them see what’s happening in our community. I didn’t realize the numbers were so high. I had went out in 2012 to protest for John T. Williams. And I was out on the frontline, me and my friends we saw an injustice in our community and we went out and fought against it. And I thought I had done my job, I thought, well you know I’m protested, I’m done. And now I see there’s so much more I could have done.
Marilyn Covarrubias, mother of Daniel Covarrubias:
My name is Marilyn Covarrubias, I’m Daniel’s mother. (She breaks down crying) It’s too hard! Every day I wake up crying, every night I go to sleep crying. I had a dream the other night. I dreamt that Daniel was upstairs lying on his bed. He was moaning and flapping his arms around in his sleep, like he was having a bad dream. I walked over and sat next to him on his bed. I touched his hair and I rubbed his back. And I said, “It’s ok, Dan, it’s just a bad dream, you’re having a bad dream and mommy’s here.” I woke up and realized that it would never be ok for me, enraged, sobbing gallons of tears because it’s not ok, it’s never going to be ok. I’ll feel bad and get sick to my stomach when I think about what happened to him. We have to get up and we have to do something about this, we can’t let this go on. I cry for the kids, I relieve it every single time I turn on the news and find out that somebody else has been killed and it makes me just cry for the mothers who are going through the same thing I’m going through. And we’ve got to stop it. We have to stand together and we have to make a difference. We have to make change. We can’t let them get away with this anymore. It can’t be sanctioned. We have to fight this, and this is what we need to do. We need to put on the full armor of God, the belt of the truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit. We have to pick up the sword of the spirit and we have to fight this. We’ve got to do it together, we’ve to stand together and do this, all of us, everybody.
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