Rest in Peace Jamarid
Jamarid Robinson, one of my former students, was murdered yesterday. He was just 15 years old.
I taught Jamarid for the 2019–2020 school year. While he had a tumultuous relationship with school he was a clever young kid who was incredibly loyal to his friends. I loved Jamarid like I love every single one of my students and I can still picture his famous smile. Of course he made mistakes but that’s part of being a teenager and everyone should get a chance to learn and grow from them. Yet instead of solely enjoying the freedom of being a kid, Jamarid had to develop a hardened shell that many Black boys do as a survival mechanism. The world never really let him be a child, and now he will never get to be an adult.
I’m so fucking tired of trying to convince people that my students and kids like them matter. Jamarid mattered. His family matters. And every kid experiencing the trauma of growing up in southeast DC matters.
But right now, they clearly don’t matter enough to those who hold the levers of power. Jamarid was already the third teenager to be murdered in DC this year. Nearly 200 people were killed in DC last year. Year after year it’s the same problem but we never get real change. 1 in 7 kids in America grow up in poverty. We still have more guns than people and a judicial system that attacks and descriminates against anyone with too much melanin. Until people start making the bold changes necessary, more and more teenagers will die.
And while most of our leaders respond with empty words, educators and community members are trying to help young children process trauma that is unimaginable to most people a few wards over. But what do you say to a child whose friend was just murdered or who is worried they’re next? How do you respect the severity of the tragedy while also supporting a child and giving them hope?
Sometimes I hear the words “we’ll get through this” and they always sting. Because Jamarid won’t get through this. He is gone. There is no undoing death. HIs family will carry this trauma forever and so will the kids of southeast DC.
And finding the person who pulled the trigger won’t bring justice either. It will most likely just mean another confused kid who was never given a fair chance locked behind bars. Another life stolen by the system.
I hope everyone that loved Jamarid finds peace. And to Jamarid, I just want to say that I’m sorry you never got to realize your full potential or pursue your dreams. You were deeply loved. Rest in peace young man.
