before going to another job. Dinyal would only stay at work for two hours before heading back home. When she got there Lee was gone. Dinyal, in her mind, thinking that Lee was in safe hands, sit at home watching a news report reflecting the caption “Teen Shot,” not knowing that she and her older son, Lamar, would be at the hospital some hours later identifying Lee’s body. Dinyal described Lee as considerate, understanding and having no enemies. She spoke on how he loved to stay home and play his video games. Lee was also a very smart young man in school. He loved his mother and was very close to his big brother, Lamar. Lee’s death has impacted the lives of many. He was honored by his school at, what would have been, his 8th grade graduation ceremony. That within itself speaks volumes and lets the world know the type of young man he was. On January 19, 2014, 3 days after Lee was buried, Dinyal would yet face another tragedy. As her son Lamar and his friend Derryck were running an errand for Dinyal, to pay her phone bill, nineteen bullets would enter the car which Lamar was driving, killing he and his friend instantly. The two young men were only a block from Dinyal’s home, when she received phone calls that there was gunfire in the neighborhood. She ran towards the area in which the gunfire had been reported, only to find Lamar’s car shot up. Dinyal tried to call Lamar’s cell phone, but he never answered. She knew Lamar was gone. Lamar was attending college and had a great life ahead of him. In hindsight, the deaths of Lee , Lamar and Derryck's can’t be justified. It was cruel and evil.
For a mother to lose her only two children in a matter of weeks has to be the worst nightmare imaginable, yet Dinyal still continues to find her strength in Christ, as she fights for the justice of Lee and Lamar. There are those negative, outside forces which try to bring her to a standstill, but her dedication to her sons and to other mothers who are experiencing the same loss, brings forth a light that will forever shine. Her courageous efforts to speak out has opened the eyes of many in the City of Oakland, surrounding areas and other states, as Dinyal has spoken among and to many mothers on several occasions, one in particular, The Circle of Mothers, which took place in Florida. She had the opportunity to meet with Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, Tupac Shakur’s mother, Afeni Shakur and many others. Dinyal has also been working on her non-profit called LsUpGunsDown.
My question is how can someone take the life of someone they didn’t give life to and certainly can’t bring that life back? Unfortunately, that’s the kind of world we’re living in, but with people like Dinyal New and those who stand by her, a change is going to come.
In Memory
of
Lee Weathersby III,
Lamar Broussard,
&
Derryck Harris
Photos courteousy of Dinyal New
fuzionzmagazine.com Jul/Aug 2014 18