Edward Crawford
The Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of a man throwing a tear gas canister has been seen in every corner of the world. But in 2017, police claimed the photo’s subject, 27-year-old Edward Crawford, shot himself in the backseat of a car. Crawford’s father, however, didn’t believe it was suicide.
DeAndre Joshua and Darren Seals
In 2014, 20-year-old DeAndre Joshua was found shot in a car that had been set on fire the day after Officer Darren Wilson’s jury decision. Two years later, 29-year-old Darren Seals was found in the EXACT same way.
Marshawn McCarrel II
23-year-old poet, housing organizer, and activist Marshawn McCarrel II, took his own life with a handgun on the steps of the Ohio statehouse in 2016. On the afternoon of his death, he posted on Facebook: “My demons won today. I’m sorry.”
Danyé Jones
In 2018, activist Melissa McKinnies found her 24-year-old son Danyé Jones hanging from a tree in her backyard. Blood stained his shirt and an unrecognizable sheet tied into military knots held his body, but Jones’ death was still ruled a suicide.
McKinnies disagreed, writing the now-deleted message: “They lynched my baby.”
After images of uprisings gain virality, the media eventually leaves for the next tragedy. But we must never forget, or think uncritically, about lives lost in the struggle for our liberation. That struggle pushes on.