Many times in the community when I saw Activist LaToya Howell talk about her murdered son, 17-year-old Justus Howell-she always spoke with a strong sense of individual passion and power. To date the family continues the fight against injustice and while Howell and her family including Mother Alice Howell remain understandably grief-stricken two years to the date when Justus was killed-they have turned their pain into a movement to educate the public and uplift other families who have gone through the same or similar unfortunate pain.
Yesterday evening, I attended and was scheduled to speak at the last of a wonderful series of public education events this week called "A Vision for a brighter tomorrow," sponsored by The FOCUS Foundation which is the Howell Family foundation. FOCUS which means For Our Children's Undistracted Success. The event featured lectures from a host of well-pronounced speakers including a powerful 14-year-old young man AJ Car, who started his own organization to address community issues. The event also included special commentary from mothers of police violence including the mother's of Tamir Rice and Sandra Bland. There was dancing, poetry and a great highlight of the evening was a scholarship giveaway.
While the perceptions on how, or why, Justus was killed contradict official police documents obtained by the News-Sun through an open records request and the Howell Families fight is ongoing. I have a strong feeling that the FOCUS foundation and the Howell Family will be a force for change in North Chicago and abroad. (glg)