Vernon Forrest Buried as his Loved Ones Call for Justice
Vernon
Forrest never fought a battle that he didn’t think he could win.
Unfortunately, the former boxing champion’s last battle cost him his
life. Shot in the back multiple times after being robbed at gunpoint in
Atlanta on July 25, Forrest, 38, became the latest reminder of the
prevalence of crime in the black community.
On
Aug. 3, over 1,000 of Forrest’s friends and family members celebrated
his life as a boxing champion, philanthropist and father at his
homegoing celebration at New Birth Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga. It
was also a time for his loved ones to demand justice for a crime that
remains unsolved. “I believe in God and the justice system,” said
Alfonso Forrest, Vernon’s brother. “We want justice fulfilled to the
fullest within the law. It will happen.”
In a sense, Forrest and the perpetrators of the crime are both victims.
Many children in the inner city are being bred to kill members of their
own race. Former boxing champion Antonio Tarver discussed how it’s time
for everyone to take notice of what’s going on in the black community.
“It
was a senseless crime,” Tarver said. “It’s time for us to come together
and champion brothers who are [lost]. It can never be too early to
plant the right type of seeds in these youngsters’ mind[s] and let them
know they can have anything they work for. Vernon worked for everything
he had. He fought for a lot of years for no money as an amateur. Vernon
just wanted to be the best.”
Forrest is survived by his mother, his 12-year-old son, five brothers, three sisters and three stepsisters. –amir shaw
