Tuesday would have been Yusuf Kirriem Hawkins 46th birthday.
The Brooklynite was viciously murdered in his own hometown almost 30 years ago when a quest to purchase a used car led him to a predominately white part of Brooklyn.
16-year old Yusuf Hawkins and three friends ventured into Bensonhurst on a summer’s night in 1989 to purchase a 1982 Pontiac. They were instead met with a racist mob who ambushed them. The mob of approximately 30 white men were armed with weapons, including a firearm and baseball bats. They shouted racial epithets at the black youths and violently attacked them.
Yusuf Hawkins was shot twice in his chest and killed.
Lynch mobs hunting black people has been propagandized as being a practice of an ancient past.
However, every generation has a story of such occurrences happening during their lifetime. These happenings leave indelible imprints on those who have watched them unfold directly or collaterally. We must never forget!!
RIP Yusuf Hawkins and so many others.
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