Memorial Quilt: Patchworked Remembrances of Those Stolen from Us

Abstract

Editors’ note: We asked our contributors who they would like to honor from Pittsburgh for the In Memoriam section. They unanimously decided on Antwon Rose, the Tree of Life massacre victims, and the police officers who were ambushed in Stanton Heights. Our guiding thought was that the circumstances of those lives and deaths in some ways make a demand against hierarchizing between one life or the other while also illuminating the messiness of a city that is “stronger than hate” and even “most livable,” for some, but not all. We have three contributors for this section. First, Mian Laubscher, a friend of Antwon Rose, permitted us to weave in his beautiful eulogy. Second, Lauren Bairnsfather decided on a modest memorial to the Tree of Life victims by naming each victim and offering their Hebrew names. She also included the traditional Jewish words of comfort,” May their memories be for a blessing,” as a connecting thread. Finally, Officer Keith Miles shared a personal story about his friend and fallen officer, Eric Kelly.