MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Past the blues, the beer, and the boys in blue stood the Whitehaven High School Class of 1988.
They were focused, as they stood on Beale, like no one else was there.
They prayed at the spot they lost classmate, friend, and Police Officer Verdell Smith.
“We wanted to celebrate everything he was about. Even though this tragic end came to his life, we’re going to live on. We’re going to celebrate his memory and do the things he stood for,” said Darryl Lewis, a classmate.
“We were out somewhere else in midtown, and we wanted to go downtown,” said Lemoyne Robinson.
“This is our Memphis. His life and death showed us this is our Memphis. The class of ’88 is showing this is our downtown. The men in blue are showing this is our city, we cannot run in our houses and lock doors and act like this is not our city,” said Robinson.
Somehow there was a man murdered in Memphis at the exact moment they stood and prayed, someone else’s loved one gone as well.
“On his Facebook, he had ‘I matter’. What he’s trying to tell people everyone matters,” said Barry Walls.
They looked to the flowers left at the corner of Beale and B.B. King as a symbol of Verdell Smith.
Even after they die, it’s up to all of us to keep their intentions alive and well.
“The bible says let my works speak to me, his work spoke for him,” added Tracy McKinney
“He showed to all of us what we should be doing.”
