On Saturday, the funeral of slain teenager Kimani Gray was held in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Janell Ross writes at the Huffington Post that his death is a reminder of the harmful effects of "stop and frisk."
No one talked about what it has done to alter the lives of the nearly 5 million people — the overwhelming majority of whom are black or Latino — citywide who have been stopped and frisked.
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No one had to.
At the church’s altar Kimani Gray, a 16-year-old known by the nickname "Kiki" whose favorite subject in school was English because he, “loved the power of words,” lay silent and still inside a coffin, beneath a bone and gold embroidered pall.To the right of the casket, sat Gray’s parents, family and friends, as well as the emergency medical crew called when Gray’s mother fainted and nearly fell to the church floor. Later, one of Gray’s brothers had to be restrained inside the sanctuary when he said loudly that an unidentified man should not have been there because the man did not know who Kiki was.
Gray’s eulogy reminded those inside the sanctuary that in the days leading up to his death Gray, a self-described writer, was busy working on a dramatic piece. On weekdays, he traveled more than an hour each way to his Manhattan high school. His affection for Chinese food, the television show “Supernatural,” and the music of teenage rapper Chief Keef, were so well known that their mention Saturday moved most of the nearly 200 people gathered inside St. Catherine’s to laugh.
Read Janell Ross' entire piece at the Huffington Post.
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