Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 11-6-15 Edition

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The Andrew Joseph, III Family To Join Other Families At The United Nations
The parents of a teen are picking up the pieces after the tragic death of their child who simply had a desire to attend a day with friends at a public event.
Deanna and Andrew, parents of Andrew Joseph, III, have been tirelessly confronting the reality that life, as they knew it, will never be the same. Their son will never be able to accomplish all the dreams and aspira- tions that he had as a middle school honor student, because his life was abruptly taken.
The Andrew Joseph, III family has created the Andrew Joseph Foun- dation.org in his honor. The family is planning ongoing events slated through February 5th-7th, 2016 in Tampa and around the world.
The family’s premise has been to remain steadfast and focused to the pursuit of justice and accountabil- ity. “Our foundation is committed to the unsounding resolve that, no other family should ever suffer the painful death of a child in the manner which claimed Andrew’s young life.”
Since 14-year-old Andrew Joseph, III’s death on February 7, 2014, his parents have been working to eradicate the wrong. The resound- ing question is why did a young child
DEANNA JOSEPH, USHER, AND DEJA JOSEPH
front the issues of social injustice and lack of equality got the attention of na- tionally acclaimed artist award win- ning Grammy star, Usher.
In his new album, unlike anything he’s done before, Andrew Joseph, III is featured in the video of his sin- gle, “Chains.” The video’s powerful message deals with the issues of racial profiling and police brutality. The video is said to come at a time where the entire planet is seeing what’s going on in terms of social injustice in America and the idea that racial big- otry is really diminishing the lives and futures of families.
The Joseph family has collabo- rated in these efforts through the sup- port of legendary entertainer, Harry Belafonte and his daughter, Gina Belafonte's foundation, Sankofa.org, as well as LoveNotBlood- Campaign.org of Oakland, California, Oscar Grant’s family.
The Joseph family will not stop there in their pursuit to eradicate in- justice as they have also been invited to the United Nations next month to join with families of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old killed in Cleveland, OH on a playground, and John Crawford, III, who was killed shopping in an Ohio Wal-Mart.
die at an event that was geared specif- ically for him?
This event was specifically identi- fied for Hillsborough County students as “Student Day” at the Florida State Fairground. The parents of the teen have been visible and vocal within community meetings, community ac- tion groups, school board meetings, State Fair Authority public meetings and other community outreach ef- forts.
The family exclaims that, “It is our mission to assist in understanding the dichotomy and aid in attempting to engage the dialogue for what has oc- curred. And, how such acts regarding the Hillsborough County School Dis- trict, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Florida State Fairgrounds precipitate in a relationship that is hazardous to the safety of our stu- dents.”
The efforts of the family to con-
Andrew Joseph, III / AJ Soars Committee For Change
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-B