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OPEN YOUR MIND is back for the Spring 2010 season with an interview with Desire Brazell-Jones, mother of Rashawn Brazell, and Larry Lyons, Executive Director of the Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund. Desire and Larry came by to discuss the horrific 2005 murder case of Rashawn Brazell, it's aftermath, and their continued efforts to keep Rashawn's name and legacy alive.

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It's been said that "there are 8 million stories in the naked city," however, few have haunted me like the story of Rashawn Brazell. It was an honor to meet Desire Brazell-Jones and host this discussion with her about her son's murder case. It's an interview I'll never forget, and a story that I hope to revisit with a more in-depth project in the near future.

For those who are unfamiliar with the details of the case: on February 14, 2005, 19-year old Rashawn Brazell kissed his mother goodbye and left his family's apartment in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, NY for a day that was supposd to consist of a meeting with an accountant, a search for a job and a lunch meeting with his mother. He never showed for the lunch date, and did not return home that night.  Rashawn was never seen alive again.

Three days later, trash bags containing dismembered human body parts were found on a subway tunnel platform at the Nostrand Avenue station on the 'A' line in Brooklyn, and others were found in a recycling plant in Greenpoint. They were determined to belong to Rashawn Brazell.

When I first learned about the story, I searched high and low for in-depth coverage by the mainstream media, and was deeply saddened that I didn't find it. What I DID find was a glut of irresponsible (and, in some cases, downright cynical and biased) stories that seemed to imply that Rashawn's murder was somehow the result of some kind of unseemly lifestyle. What was missing, however, were DETAILS. And the questions abound: how could a person be tortured and dismembered ANYWHERE in a city as densely populated as New York, then have the body disposed of in a public transit station and not have ANYONE see or hear ANYTHING? What in the world would motivate someone to do this? Was it a bias crime? Ritual killing? Robbery gone bad? (Doubtful.)

Then I wondered about Desire, his mother. How could she live day-to-day knowing that the person who did this to her son continued to roam free? What sustained her? Where was her wall-to-wall coverage? Was her pain somehow less valid than that of Beth Holloway Twitty (whose daughter Natalee disappeared - a month and a half after Rashawn - to an avalanche of "poor little missing honor student" coverage by the mainstream media)? Where was Desire's Oprah moment? (There's still time, Oprah.)

It wasn't until I started hosting OPEN YOUR MIND  that I had a venue to meet Desire, discuss this story and ask these questions. And I am much richer for the experience. I think anyone who listens to Desire speak about this in her own voice will be enriched as well.

By all accounts, this young man was an amazing human being. His story will continue to be told.

STORY LINKS:

Larry Lyons' Blog

Rod 2.0 blog - Ongoing Coverage of the Rashawn Brazell Story

Find his killer: Mom of butchered Bushwick man wants answers, New York Daily News 29 August 2008

A Year After A Teenager Was Dismembered, Still No Answers, New York Times; 13 February 2006

SHOW CREDITS

ORIGINAL BROADCAST SITE: WNSR - NEWSCHOOLRADIO.ORG

Announcer
Angela Veliky

Video Archivist
Garret Hurley

Production Assistance
Yakubu Budu-Saka

Show Theme Music:

Open Your Mind
Melissa Etheridge
from the Island Records album The Awakening (2007)
Published by Sons of Ridge Road (ASCAP)

Background Music:

Powder
Sweetback
from the Sony Music album Sweetback (1996)

Season 2, Show 5: The Case of Rashawn Brazell