Text of a statement delivered by teacher Paul Moore at memorial services for Jeffrey Lamarr Johnson, Jr. a.k.a. “Markie” on May 26, 2006 at Miami Carol City High School.

When President of the Senior Class Marquitta Davis first mentioned that I might have the honor and privilege of reflecting on the life of Jeffrey Johnson at this gathering, I worried about crying. I gave serious thought to writing down what I wanted to say and asking one of our students to read it to you today. One of Jeffrey’s classmates, Ebony Dixon, reads aloud in the manner of a Maya Angelou, like a songbird. So I considered asking Ebony or Marquitta. Any of you who attended yesterday’s commencement ceremonies knows that Marquitta is an articulate and brilliant young woman. But at this moment of truth I feel compelled to speak the testimony I am about to give in the voice of one of Jeffrey’s teachers and I apologize in advance if I should cry along the way.

As much as in any Shakespearean tragedy this young man’s death is filled with irony. One of those ironies swept over me this morning as I recorded my students' final grades for this school year. I moved from student to student knowing that inevitably I would get to him. When I came to Jeffrey’s name, knowing full well he was gone, it still felt like the most important grades in all of my 23 years as a teacher. The whole story of this young man must be told and the official record must be complete.

So that you here today to remember Jeffrey will know, his academic grade was “A”, his conduct grade was “A”, his final exam grade was “A”, and he was not absent or tardy this school year. I added two comments: “Shows excellent class attitude” and “Possesses leadership qualities.”

As I moved ahead to other students images associated with Jeffrey’s death wandered back and forth in my brain. His beautiful sister Jarrika sobbing on the TV news, our valedictorian Kristen Harris breaking down during her address to her fellow graduates, our principal Ms. Cox wiping tears from her eyes as Jeffrey’s father crossed the stage to receive his son’s diploma.

One thought was so painful it was hard to endure. Genevieve Carvil and Jeffrey were ranked 10th and 11th academically among our graduating seniors. They were like brother and sister. In the wake of Jeffrey’s death Genevieve was plunged into an ocean of grief yet she managed to e-mail me. She gave me permission to tell you today that she wrote, “Jeffrey used to say that when I got married he would assist my Dad in walking me down the aisle to my husband (that is after he had approved of the man of course).”

This auditorium is where I met Jeffrey for his fourth period class this year. It was actually two classes put together and co-taught by Mr. Adler and myself. During the first few days, we organized the large number of students and seated them alphabetically. Because Jeffrey’s last name was Taylor according to school records, he got a seat near the back.

The first five weeks of the school year passed under these circumstances until time came for the first progress reports to be issued. At that point I had no firm grasp on Jeffrey’s abilities or his determination to excel and I gave him a “B” on that progress report. I got to meet Mr. Jeffrey Johnson, Sr. bright and early the next morning. He met me just outside that auditorium door. I don’t think he threatened me but I distinctly remember being nervous over the intensity of his message. Anything less than an “A” was unacceptable to both father and son. I just remember stammering, “Yes Mr. Johnson, we can move Jeffrey to a seat in the front of the class.” Front row center is where Jeffrey spent the rest of the year.

Seemed like this young man was always front row center here at Miami Carol City. If you doubt me, leaf through the yearbook. On page 191 is his National Honor Society picture. On page 188 is his Law Magnet picture. On page 178 is his Quest Club picture. On page 174 is his Student Government Association picture. On page 157 is his Basketball Team picture. On page 105 is his Best Car picture. On page 104 is his Senior Superlatives: Best All Around picture. On page 99 is his Senior picture. But it’s maybe on page 29 where you find the best measure of the young man we have lost. On page 29 is the picture of Jeffrey and LaTroya Nelson. LaTroya wrote, “I had a crush on Jeffrey Taylor. We first met in the Chiefs Hallway, and I was just infatuated with him. Then we went to the football game against the West, and we got rained on. Then he told me he liked me, and we started going together.”

This was Jeffrey’s Honors American Government / Economics class. The social studies are not directly tested by the FCAT so there is still room in the curriculum to discuss things that are actually relevant in these young people’s lives. And as the school year began in August we were confronted with making sense of the shooting death of Miami Northwestern senior James “3J’ Lewis after a pre-season football game at Traz Powell Stadium.

August turned into September and our attention turned to those left behind in New Orleans when Katrina struck and their dramatic struggle for survival in the Superdome for days after the city was flooded. Came October and we mourned the passing of one of our most beloved teachers, Mr. Antonio Henry, and tried to reconcile our students’ magnificent performances in tribute with our schools “D” grade from the state.

In November the first of our own Class of 2006 fell. Little did we know that Evan Page’s murder at the Checkers where he worked after school foreshadowed the tragedy and grief that lay ahead for our school family. In December we watched the film Redemption in class and Jeffrey joined with others to write appeals for mercy for Stanley “Tookie” Williams. We begged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to try to see Stanley Williams for the man he had become during over 25 years of incarceration. When Tookie was executed on Dec. 13, 2005 we still had his message to consider, “Across this nation, countless young men and women, like you, are vegetating in juvenile halls and in youth authorities. More and more prisons are being constructed to accommodate your generation when you grow to adulthood. The question is, can you become motivated enough to defy the expectations that many people have of you?”

In February we learned that in January, around the time the world was celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., guards at a state-run boot camp punched, kicked, choked and, in the end, suffocated a 14-year-old boy named Martin Lee Anderson. We watched the videotape and cheered the protest of Tallahassee area college students occupying Gov. Jeb Bush’s office. In March we observed three years of war in Iraq and remembered Charles Sims, Carol City Class of 2002, and one of the nearly 2500 American dead now in that war. Charles’ sister Leaundra Horne was among Jeffrey’s classmates. In April massive protests erupted across the country and we debated this nation’s immigration policy against the backdrop of students walking out of their schools from Los Angeles to Homestead.

The Prom and Grad Bash highlighted the end of April and the beginning of May. Normally a time of unbridled joy and celebration, the season was tempered for the class by the violent deaths of Nichelle Anderson’s brother James, one of our young mothers Sherika Wilson, and former student Devon “Scooter” Sutton. Then in late May one of the last class discussions Jeffrey would partake in came up as test scores were being reported by the state. We considered how many of the 28,000 or so children facing 3rd grade retention based on an FCAT score would be hardened by the experience and thus how many might someday be able to pull the trigger without regard to the consequences to life and liberty.

Jeffrey’s general philosophy in all these discussions of the world he actually lived in is best summed up in his own words. An aspiring lawyer, he wrote, “I have had a lot of exposure to the legal system and its ramifications. I do not agree with all of it. But I figure they need some good guys like me who do it from the heart, not for the money. I’m so passionate about my goals because I have a hunch that I can make a difference.”

So the body of a young man who thought he could make a difference lies before us today. Shall we add his name to that long and growing list of young people felled by “senseless violence” and be done with it? Shall we pray over his body and hope for the best for his soul and be done with it? Shall we comfort his loving family and each other through this time of grief and be done with it? They say time heals all wounds. This too shall pass. We can at least enjoy a brief respite until the next young person’s funeral.

Or will we make the death of this young man different! To call down the great poet Amiri Baraka, Jeffrey Lamar Johnson, Jr., "You got to be a spirit!" "You can't be no ghost!" Jeffrey goes forward now as a spirit, a way of living life and until you young people stop believing in yourselves, until you turn on one another, his spirit will endure. Load the most powerful weapon you have – your mind. Figure out who is pulling the strings in this hostile world you are being asked to live in. Get together with your brothers and sisters around you and around the world. Then go pick a fight with injustice, poverty, racism and war. If you do it from the heart, Jeffrey will be right there at your side.

Postscript: The morning of the memorial service for Jeffrey Johnson, the Miami Herald reported that, “Less than 24 hours after striding across the stage in a pristine white cap and gown, Central High School graduate Kennetha Jordan bled to death Friday morning on the front lawn of her El Portal home.”  Kennetha was shot in the same area of town as Sherika Wilson. Three days later 17-year-old Robert Phillips, a former student at Miami Central was shot and killed near his school.

Paul Moore has taught Social Studies at Miami Carol City High School for 23 years. The kids call him Coach Moore for the years he spent as the girls' basketball coach. Mr. Moore retired from coaching when he was elected to the Executive Board of the United Teachers of Dade as one of three Vice Presidents for High Schools. Contact him at [email protected].

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