Daughter-turned-activist after dad’s death
NEW YORK — The daughter of key Black Lives Matter figure Eric Garner died Saturday after a weeklong hospital stay after suffering a heart attack.
“She was a warrior to the end. She stood up for justice for her father,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said in announcing the death of Erica Garner , 27, at a New York hospital.
Erica Garner’s official Twitter account, run by her family and friends since she became ill, asked that she be remembered as a mother, daughter, sister and aunt with a heart “bigger than the world.”
In 2014, her father, Eric Garner, who was black, was stopped on Staten Island for selling untaxed cigarettes and died after a white police officer subdued him with a chokehold. A grand jury declined to indict the officer; the city agreed to pay a $6 million civil settlement.
Eric Garner’s last words, “I can’t breathe,” became a slogan for activists.
Erica Garner became a voice for police accountability after his death, criticizing Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio over policing matters. In 2016, she campaigned on behalf of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for president.
Garner’s mother, Esaw Snipes, told The New York Times previously that Garner, who gave birth four months ago, had learned during the pregnancy that she had heart problems.
Snipes said Garner had a heart attack after an asthma episode and was placed in a medically induced coma.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s brother-in-law
ATLANTA -- The brother-in-law of Martin Luther King Jr. and a founding member of The Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change has died.
Isaac Newton Farris Sr., who suffered from prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease, died at his Atlanta home Saturday morning, his daughter Angela Farris-Watkins said. He was 83.
Farris married Christine King in a ceremony performed by Martin Luther King Jr. and their brother A.D. King on Aug. 19, 1960.
"He wasn't caught up marrying into a prominent family," Farris-Watkins said by phone. "He was secure in his own right."
Farris was a successful entrepreneur and founder of Farris Color Visions. He also served as project manager for the construction of The King Center.
"Through all the tragedies and victories he helped build the King Center," Farris-Watkins said.
The center was founded by Martin Luther King's wife, Coretta Scott King.
Farris was also a deacon and trustee at the historic Ebenezer Baptist church, where he was a member for over 60 years.
"He was such an integral part of our family who will be sorely missed," Farris-Watkins said.
A Section on 01/01/2018