Opinion: Marking ‘Birthday Blues,’ 3/20 Coalition continues effort toward ‘Osaze’s Community’
A birthday is celebrated to acknowledge a person’s existence on this earth. This is meant to be a joyous occasion to mark a milestone. Sadly, the parents of Osaze Osagie will be placing flowers on a tombstone instead.
On Aug. 2, 1989, Osaze was born to Iyun and Sylvester Osagie. He was a beautiful person, who kept his family close and his faith closer. Though he was full of love and light, he still suffered from mental health issues.
On March 20, 2019, the State College Police Department attempted to serve a mental health warrant at his home. In under 3 minutes, Osaze was fatally shot three times from behind, resulting in his murder. It took over a year for the officers’ names to be released, and two years later, the Osagie family has yet to receive any justice.
Organizations banded together to form the 3/20 Coalition to fight for justice for Osaze. They not only pushed for change, but for activists to run for local office. They also demanded transparency and accountability, mental health reform, and a Community Oversight Board (COB). Ultimately, fighting for changes such as these comes with a cost.
At a special public meeting concerning the COB, people from all over came to stand in solidarity with the police and “Blue Lives Matter.” As Black members of the Coalition used the word “murder” in reference to Osaze, those in opposition angrily interjected and eventually stormed out. The fact that any wrongdoing had been done in this town was so unimaginable, people couldn’t stomach the notion that their police department should have independent oversight. When community members publicly state they don’t want their “way of life changed,” it is concerning because historically this has been a racial trope used to incite fear and maintain the “status quo.”
As we move into Black August (a tradition originated in the 1970s that specifically honors political prisoners, freedom fighters, and martyrs of the Black freedom struggle), we mark the day Osaze Osagie was born. He would have been 32 years old, had his life not been snuffed out so soon. Uncomically, his favorite color was blue, he was killed by the “boys in blue,” thus giving us, the “Birthday Blues.”
In August, Africans were brought here as slaves, Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi, Nat Turner ran a revolution, Martin Luther King Jr. led the March on Washington, and Osaze Osagie was born. A birthday that we now must recognize, because he was murdered by the SCPD. The 3/20 Coalition’s hope is to build “Osaze’s Community.” A place where all is just, all is fair, and all is equal. A place where Black and brown bodies feel safe, and can be heard and a school system that doesn’t put cops over kids. A Borough Council that considers the marginalized community, and a government that gets it. What do you want for your community? Make a wish.