Breaking bread: meal over mourning
Twin Cities community gathers in Minneapolis for a free supper to share stories in remembrance of loved ones lost to police brutality.
By Mina Jansma | Reporter
Activist Marquell Bridges wore a bright, colorful shirt that read “Justice for Kohen Wiley” Bridges traveled from Mississippi to speak at the Minneapolis Stolen Lives remembrance dinner.
Communities United Against Police Brutality held its 26th annual Stolen Lives Remembrance Dinner, at 6 p.m. Oct. 25 at 4200 Cedar Ave. Speakers, organization leaders and community members ate and engaged in solemn conversations while remembering the lives of Minnesotans who were killed at the hands of law enforcement.
Families who’ve lost their loved ones were invited to an open mic to speak to attendees. Many grieved the recent death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, who was shot and killed by an officer in Senatobia, Mississippi, in June.
“Here in Minnesota and around the United States, we are in a critical state of emergency, and the cost of people being silent and being compliant is a 1-year-old baby getting murdered.” — Toshira Garraway, Minneapolis activist
Minneapolis activist Toshira Garraway is no stranger to mourning, speaking with agony, aggravated by Kohen’s death.
“Here in Minnesota and around the United States, we are in a critical state of emergency, and the cost of people being silent and being compliant is a 1-year-old baby getting murdered,” Garraway said.
Garraway is the fiancée of the late Justin Teigen.
Teigen, 24, died Aug. 19, 2009 after a pursuit with St. Paul police. Garraway said Teigen fled police on foot after crashing his car and climbed into a recycling bin. Hours later, his body was found inside the recycling bin. His death was ruled as a result of asphyxia due to mechanical compression by a recycling truck.
Teigen’s family maintains that he died at the hands of the St. Paul Police Department.
Seeking clarity and answers, Garraway said she has been in a legal challenge with the St. Paul Police Department for 17 years. She has been trying to obtain the dash-cam footage that cuts out after Teigen was seen by police climbing into the recycling bin.
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“Emotionally, it’s draining to go through the court process,” Garraway said. “It’s dehumanizing the way that they even interrogated me while I sat in the room with the medical examiner’s office attorneys, as well as the St. Paul police attorneys.”
Among those preparing to speak later in the program, activist Cortez Rice sat wearing a sweatshirt displaying his son Jamari’s name. He clutched a printed 37-paged packet listing every Minnesotan who died from police misconduct, brutality or wrongfully in prison. Organizers handed the packet to all attendees upon entry.
Behind the podium, a continuous slideshow projected victims alongside their date of death, attendees pointing up when they saw the faces of people they recognized, such as Philando Castile and Jamar Clark.
As Rice stepped up to the podium, he recalled the names from the packet he recognized. His cousin, Walter Collins, was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2003. George Floyd was referred to as an uncle figure. Rice’s son, Jamari, died at age 15 after a shooting outside Jamari’s high school, South Education Center, in Richfield. He expressed the mental exhaustion that is tracking dates of death
“Feb. 1, my son got murdered. Feb. 2, Amir Locke got murdered. Feb. 9, Deshaun Hill got murdered,” Rice said. “It sucks to have to know these dates and they stuck with you. I can almost remember every last one of y’alls loved ones’ birthdays or heavenly death dates.”
Rice looked down at his hands and out to the tables before delivering his final words.
“But the fight must continue,” Rice said. “We can’t stop, we won’t stop, man. I love y’all. Thank y’all for coming.”
Community remembrance dinner in Minneapolis
- Who: Twin Cities community members affected by police brutality
- What: Dinner
- When: Oct. 25
- Where: 4200 Cedar Ave, Minneapolis
- Why it matters: Giving community members a chance to speak with attendees to share their experience with losing a family member to police brutality or injustice.
