By Sarina Trangle
Memorial Day weekend was marked in South Jamaica with a chorus of “I love my life” proclamations.
Shenee Johnson, whose 17-year-old son Kedrick Ali Morrow Jr. was shot dead four years ago, organized an afternoon of songs, dancing and rapping Saturday as an outlet for local youth and an antidote to bullying and gun violence.
Between children showcasing anti-bullying posters, a brother-sister duo singing “Fallen Angels” and a handful of rappers spitting positive lyrics, Johnson led dozens gathered at LIFE Camp, at 111-12 Sutphin Blvd., in chants of “I love my life” and “From tragedy to triumph.”
After Morrow was killed at a Springfield Gardens party in May 2010, Johnson said she honored the then 17-year-old honors student bound for St. John’s University by holding essay contests on the impact of gun violence.
But this year Johnson said she sought to promote peace in a more creative way. A lyrical celebration seemed fitting because Kedrick was an aspiring rapper.
“Every day is a struggle to even get out of bed sometimes,” she said. “I have three very busy boys that have been running around here. I thank God for them … it is our duty to make sure that we do everything we can to cultivate their talents, to teach them everyday to love themselves and to value themselves.”
She talked up South Jamaica’s gifts, noting that one of the songwriters behind “Thin Line Between Love and Hate,” Jackie Poindexter, hailed from the neighborhood while introducing Poindexter’s grandson before he performed.
Patricia “Ms. Penry” Wrencher and Adele Ruffin stood beside Johnson as she described her son. Both said they understood her pain after losing sons to bullets.
“Children learn prejudice and hate and anger from older people so we have to teach our children about peace and love,” said Wrencher, whose son Andre Saunders was killed at 32 in a still-unsolved double homicide. “We have to be the strength and guidance for our youth.”
Ruffin said her son Tysheen R. Coackley was shot to death in May 2012 at 21. She said his death ended a nearly six-year battle with a bully who began picking on her son by robbing him at 15.
Now she said she worries about the three younger brothers who looked up to Coackley.
“They talk about it all the time. It was their older brother,” she said.
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
