BELIZE CITY, Mon. Nov. 23, 2015–Former Amandala reporter Kareem Jabor Clarke, 27, who was gunned down on the morning of July 6, on Vernon Street, was honored on his birthday, Saturday, November, 21, at the BTL Park in the New Town Barracks at the event, called the Kareem Clark Memorial. The event was well attended and it was hailed a success.
The three-hour free event commenced at 4:00 in the evening and concluded at 7:00 in the evening. There were musical entertainment, awards were presented to the winners of poems and an essay competition, a presentation was made by the family and poems were read by winners of the poetry competition.
First place winner of the Kareem Clarke Memorial Essay Competition 2015 was Michelle Leiva from E.P. Yorke. She won an Acer laptop, donated by BASAR (Belize Association for Search and Rescue).
The second place winner was Kyle Rodriguez from SJC. He won a tablet, courtesy of Go Wireless Direct!
Katie Numi Usher, on behalf of Image Factory, handed over a cheque and books for children collected for St. Joseph Primary School and its feeding program.
The $300 donation and books were collected from patrons of the Image Factory.
Monetary donations obtained will be used for a feeding program at the St. Joseph Primary School.
Among the artists who gave musical tribute to Kareem were Stone Jam Sounds, DJ Diesel, Rock Hard Sounds and Denise Castillo, among others.
Four months after his life was extinguished, his friends and coworkers are still at a loss as to why he was killed, because he was not a gang banger, nor a criminal.
On Facebook, his sister, Melonie Young, wrote “Today marks 4 months since my brother Kareem Clarke was killed by a young man who was apparently under influence of alcohol. My mom still wonders why you killed her only son. She wants to know who lured her son at that time to that area. We want answers and we want justice. You will not walk free.
“Kareem, you are gone, but not forgotten. Every day we still think and talk about you,” she said.
The Kareem Clark Memorial has been formed to promote literacy and events to keep the memory of Kareem Clark alive.
Marisol Amaya, the chairperson, and officials of the Memorial and organizers of the event, give thanks to all who participated and donated, and also, to those who assisted in one way or the other to make the event a success.