Foundation Continues Legacy of Dajae Coleman, 14

Two days before he was shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity, 14-year-old Dajae Coleman summed up his beliefs in an essay for his freshman humanities class at Evanston Township High School.

“I get a lot of support from my family; they made me the person I am today,” he wrote last September. “My mom pushes me to do better, she always tells me never to settle. I think the kids that are on the street not doing anything with their lives don’t get the type of support they need.” 

Six months after Dajae’s death, his mother, Tiffany Rice, is turning the support she gave to her son outward, into a foundation for the community. Calling it the Dajae Coleman Foundation, Rice says she hopes the nonprofit will inspire other young kids to emulate Dajae’s strengths, including his dedication to his studies, his commitment to basketball and his friendly personality. 

For more stories about Evanston residents who inspire us all, follow Patch on Facebook.

“I’ve always planned, after he was murdered, to continue his legacy,” said Rice, sitting at the kitchen table in her apartment in south Evanston. Pictures of Dajae decorated the living room, while his trophies from basketball and football crowded a shelf near the TV. Rice was at home between classes for a master’s degree in hospital administration, caring for her younger daughter, who was also home sick from school. 

After her son’s death, Rice said she felt like she was “in a shell” for months, moving through shock and trying to cope with the deep sorrow and anger she felt over losing Dajae. She started thinking about starting the foundation after she went to a pancake breakfast this winter, hosted by the Fellowship of Afro-American Men (F.A.A.M.) basketball league, for which Dajae played. Talking to another attendee, Rice described her idea for a “DaeDae World Weekend,” around the anniversary of Dajae’s death. 

“The woman says, ‘Let’s start meeting,’” she recalls. 

Rice says she was inspired to start a “DaeDae World Weekend” by the tweets friends and famous basketball players like LeBron James sent out after her son’s death, using the hashtag “DaeDaeWorld.” She was also inspired by the hundreds of young people who packed her son’s funeral, spilling out the front doors and onto the sidewalk in front of First Church of God Christian Life Center. Rice says she wanted to turn the positive energy she saw into something larger, to give voice to all the teenagers who showed up to mourn Dajae. 

“One morning I woke up at 3 a.m., and thought, ‘I just need to start writing,’” Rice said.

That night, she came up with a mission statement for her foundation, and six preliminary programs. Those include a Dajae Coleman Achievement Award, which will provide a monetary reward to an exemplary student at the end of his or her freshman year, as well as the DaeDae World Weekend, a program of events to promote family support and positive social interactions.

Rice also met with Hecky Powell, owner of Hecky’s Barbecue and founder of another Evanston community group, the Forrest E. Powell Foundation. He agreed to sponsor the Dajae Coleman Foundation and support Rice in getting it off the ground.

“Now I’m under the tutelage of a successful and established person in the community,” Rice says.

“I Just Feel Robbed” 

Dajae was shot and killed as he and his friends were walking home from a party in the 1500 block of Church Street around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22. He was walking to his father’s house, according to Rice, where he planned to get a ride back to her home.

Rice remembers that she had just come back from playing flag football an ordered a pizza when she got a call from one of Dajae’s friends. He said, “there was shooting on Church Street, and Dajae was running,” she recalled. Terrified, Rice woke up her daughter, and the two got into the car to drive toward Evanston Township High School. By the time she arrived, police had already blocked off the streets around the crime scene.

One week after her son’s death, police announced that they were charging 20-year-old Evanston resident Wesley Woodson with first-degree murder in connection with Dajae’s death. Police said several groups had started fighting at the party Dajae was attending, and one of those fights involved a person Woodson knew.  Someone called Woodson to tell him about the fight, according to police and he started walking east from his home in the 1700 block of Ashland Avenue toward the 1500 block of Church Street, carrying a 9-millimeter gun.

As he approached Dajae and his friends, police say he fired four shots, in what authorities believe was a case of mistaken identity.

“This was a retaliatory act upon an innocent group of teens with no gang affiliations,” Police Cmdr. Jason Parrott told reporters at a press conference announcing the charges last fall. Woodson has pled not guilty and is currently being held without bond while his case makes its way through the court system. 

Rice said she feels both intense anger and deep sorrow over her son’s death.

She is furious at a family and a justice system that she believes failed her son's accused killer, who faced prior criminal charges for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, but was never convicted. 

She feels a sense of loss that encompasses her son's past life and the future they won't get to share.

“It’s just so many milestones we didn’t get to complete together,” she says. She won’t get to teach him how to drive, or watch him accept his high school diploma. She won’t get to help him move into college or watch him walk down the aisle. Every morning, she wakes up early, but instead of getting up to drive him to school, she simply has extra time on her hands. 

“I just feel robbed,” Rice says.

She hopes that the foundation will, in some way, bring her son’s spirit back. Potential winners of the Dajae Coleman Achievement Award must demonstrate leadership, sportsmanship, humility, positive social interactions and academic achievements—all characteristics Dajae embodied, according to Rice.

He was a standout basketball player, for example, but also very humble, she explains. Dajae would pull up for a three-pointer, sink the basket, then run back to get on defense, without stopping for a celebratory display, as many basketball players do.

“He’s probably one of the most humble kids I’ve ever seen,” she says. 

He was also an honor student at Evanston Township High School and a recipient of the prestigious Justin Wynn award, which honors two fourth graders in District 65 each year. He told his mother he might one day become an engineer—although he also dreamed of being a professional basketball player. 

Beyond his academic and athletic achievements, Dajae was also thoughtful beyond his years.

Speaking at his funeral, , explained how he had been touched by Dajae’s generous spirit.

One day before Dajae died, he sent Nibra White a Facebook message, asking about White’s father, who was very sick and about to die. Dajae said he was sorry, and asked if there was anything he could do. 

“I’m thinking, 14 years old, what can you do, go to McDonald’s?” White said. “But that’s the kid we’re dealing with.” 

Reaching Out to Evanston’s Most Vulnerable Residents 

While the foundation is still in its infant stages, Rice has already recruited a passionate corps of volunteers. Fellow Evanstonian Krenice Roseman, whose brother played basketball with Dajae, will serve on the foundation’s advisory committee. 

“I always remember his smile, and I think his smile says a lot about him,” Roseman says of Dajae. “He had one of the biggest, brightest, warmest smiles of any of the kids I would come across.”

Like many in Evanston, Roseman says she was inspired by reading the essay Dajae wrote for his humanities class, which Evanston Township High School shared with the community following his death. 

 “He said, ‘Kids in the street not doing anything with their lives lack the family support that they need,’” Roseman recalls. “That has always kind of stuck out to me, because I think that is the core of what the Dajae Coleman Foundation is trying to address. It’s trying to reach out to our community’s most vulnerable residents: our kids.” 

Roseman said she noticed her brother and his friends posting messages on Facebook after Dajae’s death, saying they were going to score 10 points in a basketball game or go to the gym “for Dajae.” She even noticed that her brother had tucked Dajae’s humanities essay into the inside pocket of his school binder.

For these kids, mostly freshmen in high school, Dajae’s name and life became synonymous with their positive aspirations, she says.

“I was seeing these young people trying to turn what was heartbreaking for them into something that could inspire them to do better,” Roseman says.

After Dajae’s death, there was a lot of talk about helping teens in Evanston, but with time, that upsurge seems to have died down, Roseman notes.

“A couple months after his death, you don’t hear people talking about the action part so much,” she says. She hopes the foundation will change that, by challenging adults in the community to step up again and take an active role in the lives of teenagers. As for those teenagers, she hopes the foundation will help them prepare for life outside of Evanston and life outside of high school.

“I want kids in the community to know that there are no limits to what they can achieve,” she says. “That if they continue to do well in school, make school a priority, make school their job, and continue to try to be good people, that the trajectory of their life can be outstanding. 

 “I’m Really About Producing Change in the Evanston Community”

Sitting at her kitchen table with a binder full of materials on the foundation in front of her, Rice outlines her ideas. The DaeDae World Weekend is already scheduled for Sept. 20 – 22, 2013. Programs include a family fun night at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center, where kids will have the opportunity to share their thoughts, as well as a basketball clinic at Evanston Township High School, run by Coach Nibra White.

The Dajae Coleman Achievement Award will be given out during the 2013-14 school year. Rice says she plans to hold the event around Jan. 22, Dajae’s birthday, and has already talked to Supt. Eric Witherspoon about getting teachers to nominate students. 

With time, she also hopes to implement an anti-violence service initiative called “DaeDae Way,” create self-esteem building workshops for teen girls and start a program that promotes healthy exercise and diet. 

“I’m really about producing change in the Evanston community,” she says. 

Asked what Dajae would think of the foundation, his mother says it is a continuation of the path he had set out on, even as a high school freshman. 

“Dajae is doing all of this,” she says. “This is his work, I’m just representing him.”

For more information or to donate to the Dajae Coleman Foundation, visit dc3f.org/.‎