"Jarvis was a computer wiz"

I was a million miles away when Jarvis Anderson got shot. In reality, it was closer to 9– Hyde Park to Cambridge, just a quick trip down Melnea Cass then Columbus. But the news coverage I read the morning of the 5th, next to photos of the fireworks, local reactions to the pops and previews of Sunday’s chowderfest made it seem much further. For five days, I carried around the vague headline: 2 killed on the night of the 4th. It was only this morning that I finally learned their names, through a video posted on Universal Hub about the individuals behind the headlines. Jarvis Anderson and Roniel Marc.

Jarvis was a Computer Wiz. According to Universal Hub.

According to the Globe, “He was a 20-year-old who loved writing and producing music and who hoped to attend college to study engineering.”

“[He] wrote and helped engineer an antiviolence song called "Put the Guns Down."

“He worked as a delivery man at a Bertucci's restaurant and spent his spare
time at the music studio and visiting family”

I’ve posted a video below by Dr. Mike Weaver which talks to friends about
the two slain young men. For those of you who are behind a firewall and can’t see it, I’ve also posted some quotes.

On Jarvis Anderson, 20 years old:

"He fixes my computer. He also did engineering. A good kid."

"It’s the quiet ones. He fixed my computer every time I crashed my computer…very hands on kid, very hands on, minds his business."

"It happens that fast. Here today and gone tomorrow."

"Or here today…GONE today."

“Once it happens, you’re on the news for a split second and then… on to the next.”

On Roniel "1-yell" Mark, 17 years old:

"He wasn’t violent, he was more affirmative. He didn’t believe in shooting or killing. The violence just rose from a simple street fight. Back in the day people used fight throw hands… you cant take a loss, you go back and get a gun? You’re not a man if that’s the case."

"A lot of good young men have lost their lives for no reason."

"A lot of stuff that happens, street games, its not at all necessary"

"Me being a young man, I’m 19 years old, I’ve seen my share of loss, I’ve lost a lot of friends over stuff like this, it’s never a good feeling. I hope it stops soon."

I don't think we have to live in the aftermath of violence perpetually. But I do think it's worth it, in as many cases as possible, to learn the names and the stories of those who have been victims. There are connections to be made here. There is an urgency to be felt beneath the dullness of business-as-usual news. I'm trying to remember that, so that the next time a young person is killed in this city, it won't be five days before I learn his name.

Jarvis's Funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Davis Funeral Home, 654 Cummins Highway in Mattapan.