James Wright wasn’t shy about recalling the time that he had to stay the night on his best friend’s couch when he was having relationship issues, and waking up to a young man who said, “Sir, is there anything I can get you before I go to school?”
Years later, that still sticks in Wright’s mind. “It just stung me that he was just so mannerable. That’s the kind of dude he was.”
The young man was Antwon Rose II.
During the Antwon Rose II Holiday Giveaway, Dec. 20, at Hawkins Village in Rankin, where Rose lived, Wright stood firm in the frigid temperatures with his 9-year-old daughter, Trinity Richardson, remembering that moment he had with Rose. How could a young man be so pleasant and full of concern for another man he barely knew, Wright thought.
That’s why he wouldn’t have missed the Dec. 20 celebration for the world, little Trinity by his side.
“It touches little kids because they know, they can feel it, and she feels it every time,” Wright told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “I took her to the funeral just for that reason.”
Rose was only 17 years old when he was shot and killed by former East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld on June 19, 2018, as Rose exited a car that was involved in a drive-by shooting moments earlier. Rose was running away from Officer Rosfeld when the officer fired three shots at Rose, the fatal shot to his back.
Though surveillance video proved that Rose was not the shooter in the drive-by shooting, a jury based in Dauphin County, Pa., but bused to Pittsburgh, in March 2019 found Officer Rosfeld not guilty of all charges.
Philadelphia born-and-raised hip-hop artist Meek Mill gained worldwide fame not only for his rapping ability, but his controversial prison sentence levied on him by a Pennsylvania judge for minor violations of his probation, stemming from an arrest more than a decade ago. After serving five months of a 2- to 4-year sentence beginning in December 2017, Meek Mill was granted bail in April 2018, and the case was finally resolved in August 2019.
Meek Mill’s case brought the matter of social and racial injustices into an even larger light. For Meek Mill personally, he has committed to fighting injustices, and is aware of the events that transpired pertaining to Rose. His DreamChasers record label recently sponsored a video PSA, produced by Pittsburgher and Emmy Award-winner Emmai Alaquiva, which features Rose’s mother, Michelle Kenney, and the outpouring of support many in the Pittsburgh community have for her and Rose, while denouncing the not guilty verdict for Officer Rosfeld.
But Meek Mill didn’t stop there. In conjunction with Roc Nation, an entertainment company founded by rapper Jay-Z, the Antwon Rose II Holiday Giveaway provided local youth with loads of presents for Christmas—new tennis shoes, a #J4A (Justice 4 Antwon) sweatshirt, and a basketball. Hundreds of youth found themselves with early Christmas gifts.
“This is beautiful. Everything out here displays Antwon,” Wright told the Courier. “As I posted (on social media), an angel is coming to touch his hometown, and his name is Antwon Rose. Be ready to feel his presence.”
“When I hear the stories about him, and when I hear about how this young man cared about his neighbors, how he loved his friends, how he served his community in different capacities, this is the type of thing that keeps him alive,” said state Rep. Summer Lee, whose House district includes Rankin. She also noted the kids who strolled through the line outside the Hawkins Village Community Center to pick up their gifts, how important it is to continue inspiring them.
“You can’t keep talking about our kids and not getting to know them,” Rep. Lee told the Courier. “These kids are here, smiling, well-behaved…sure, they cut up, but these are great kids, and if we’re giving them the time that they deserve, if we’re giving them the love that they deserve, what can’t they be?”
Kenney, Rose’s mother, addressed the crowd prior to the event, thanking all who made this event possible in honor of her son. She also made it a point to note that she only agreed to an event like this, in Rose’s honor, if it were held in “Antwon’s hood,” Hawkins Village.
And it was.
“It’s unbelievable. It just goes to show how much my son was respected and loved, not just by this community, but all around,” Kenney told the Courier, referring to Roc Nation and Meek Mill’s involvement.
“I broke down and cried when I first came over here,” Kenney added. “But right now, I’m happy, because I see the kids in my neighborhood, everybody got a pair of shoes today that fit, doesn’t get much better than that.”
Antwon Rose II—he’s known to so many throughout America on a surface level, an African American youth who was, in many supporters’ eyes, unjustly shot and killed by a White police officer. But to the youth in Hawkins Village, to James Wright, to those in his high school, Woodland Hills, he was Antwon Rose II, the one who uplifted others, the one who had big dreams.
“Everybody in this community knew my son,” Kenney told the Courier. “He literally would take them to the basketball court or take them to the ice cream truck, so everybody over here knew Antwon. Either he was on his skateboard or he was bouncing a basketball. All the kids loved him. They loved him when he was alive, so they are just continuing to love him while he’s gone.”
MICHELLE KENNEY, mother of Antwon Rose II, with James Wright and his daughter, Trinity Richardson, at Hawkins Village in Rankin, Dec. 20. (Photos by Dayna Delgado)
by Rob Taylor Jr., Courier Staff Writer
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