James "Jimmy" Flint

My name is Sarah A. Flint, the mother of James "Jimmy" Flint, also called "Jimbo". Jimmy was just 2 months into his 15th year on this earth. On the evening of August 20, 1981 on his way to a block party he got into a fight with a 17-year old Latino in the Orchard Park development in the Dudley Square neighborhood where he was stabbed to death. The media labeled this as a racial incident between an African American and Latino. This was far from the truth. It was just two boys having an argument and one pulled a knife. My son was loved by everyone who knew him. That was shown by the number of people who came to his funeral. Even the Boston Police liked him and gave him a police escort to the cemetery. Jimmy had just gotten his first summer job working at the Roxbury District Court. He never had the chance to cash his first check. He was very athletic: he played basketball for the Boys and Girls Club of Roxbury, the Lena Park Neighborhood Center in Orchard Park and the BNBL Summer League. He was also good at skateboarding. Jimmy attended Boston Public Schools as well as METCO. He was very interested in politics. His favorite President was Jimmy Carter who he called the "Peanut President." Jimmy taught the young children in the neighborhood how to play basketball and skateboard. He also taught his younger sister, who was only 10 years old to play basketball. She took those skills and went on to get a full basketball scholarship to a Big 10 University–The University of Minnesota – where she now works full-time. To this day, 30 years later, he is still loved and remembered by all knew him. Last year Mothers for Justice and Equality (MJE) was formed and I have the honor of using my experience to work as the Lead Organizer. MJE has helped me to work with others dealing with a homicide. My hope is to help them get past the hurt and anger we all feel and put our energy toward creating peace in our neighborhoods.