Summary
After two weeks of working tirelessly with young leaders in the Rec-n-the Streets program, training, teaching, guiding, and growing young minds and spirits, we experienced a homicide within walking distance from our program site. Later that evening a young man 15 years old, eager to learn, motivated to change his life was brutally murdered at the train station as he needed his day of learning, earning, and changing. This young man along with 49 additional leaders eager to learn and grow developed skills, transferred their passions into service to others and started forming a team and community. When you lose a young KING with tremendous promise, a willingness to change his life, and suddenly caught in the crossfire that ends his or her life, you mourn, you grieve and you ask yourself is there something else I could have done to make a deeper impact, if the answer is no, you realize you’ve used all you had, sharing mistakes in my young life, speaking truth to power, being authentic and teaching the rules of adulthood- Trust, Respect, Integrity, Consistency, Knowledge and Self Esteem. Reflections and Observations to Overcome Traumas and Systems of oppression and injustice, KASH – Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, and Habits, ARC- Accountability, Responsibility, and Credibility. These are life lessons for us all to embrace. I often fall short of accomplishing these values and principles daily however when we’ve given our best when we’ve poured our all into young lives, we can never feel shame, guilt, or remorse. Listen to the bravery of young people honoring a team member whose life was cut way too short. Remember it’s not the children who are being slain, it’s now our grandchildren, who have not met their life mate, who have not discovered their unique and special gifts in life, they are merely on the path to adulthood, freedom of thought and discovery. Let’s never forget the lives lost in the battle for survival and young black and brown children, let’s do our very best to guide, love, and support them through this difficult life journey, let’s know that the impact of the carceral state on young black and brown bodies is real. R.I.P. “RB” Blessings and Healing to staff, participants, and more directly the family and friends are left alone to grieve and heal. Let’s surround them with love and compassion during these challenging times and protect them with our actions, not words and deeds. ONe Love. Reco — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/recoach/message
The teenage boy was one of the three victims of a shooting near a SeaTac bus stop on Aug. 12. His family is praying someone will do the right thing and shed light on this unimaginable situation.
“I shouldn’t have to look down at my grandson in a coffin, my kids and my grandkids should have to look down in a coffin at me,” said James Solomon, Reggie Besiz’s grandfather.
Reggie’s grandparents are still in disbelief they’ll never see him again.
“My baby was literally murdered,” said Vendetta Battle, Reggie’s grandmother.
Battle said she raised her grandson since he was just two weeks old. She said the 15-year-old loved video games, football, and cars. He was also very responsible for his age, making the commute by bus every day from Federal Way to Seattle, where he worked with the parks and recreation department.
“He was by himself, he was getting off work and he’d just texted me and was like ‘I’m on my way home, mom.’”
Around 6 p.m. that Thursday, shots were fired at the RapidRide bus stop in SeaTac. Reggie and two other men, who were strangers to him, were also shot. The other two men survived, but Reggie didn’t make it.
“I just want to know why — why would someone do that to a 15-year-old kid?” said Solomon.
“We want to know was the bullets meant for Reggie or was Reggie just an innocent bystander at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Battle.
His grandparents expressed how the lack of answers only makes it harder to process.
“I just want to know why and that the madness gotta stop. We talking grandbabies now, we ain’t talking about our kids, we’re talking grandbabies,” said Solomon.
“Who would take a grandbaby? That is my lifeline, he’s the one that gets to carry on the generation that me and his grandmother made.”
Reggie’s grandfather James Solomon makes a plea to the community: “I’m asking you Seattle, I’ve been here for 50 years a lot of you know me. If you know anything, why my grandson was murdered the way he was murdered, please come forward and give me and his grandmother closure.”
If you have any information on Reggie’s murder you could be eligible for a $1,000 cash reward and can remain completely anonymous through crime stoppers. You can submit your tip using the P3 tips app or by calling 1-800-222-TIPS.
ReCoach 