Kristopher Minners will be remembered for how he lived, not how he died
Because of efforts by his alma mater and former employer, people are going to remember this young man’s name — not just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time one awful night.
When I was in college, I got a scholarship to Howard University in the name of Maurice Williams, a 24-year-old journalist slain in 1977 when a fringe group of about a dozen Hanafi Muslims violently seized hostages and took over Washington, D.C.’s city hall, along with two other facilities.
I was glad to receive it, as I needed the money. I didn’t know much about Maurice Williams at the time, but I was honored to receive something in his name and ended up learning a bit about him. It felt like I was carrying on his legacy, and helping to make sure that Williams, who had worked for Howard University’s WHUR radio station, wouldn’t be forgotten.
Too often, people who had lived rich and vibrant lives before getting shot get reduced to being just a number on an ever-growing list of homicides. There’s a tendency at times to focus only on how they died, and forget how they lived.
That is not going to happen with Kristopher Minners, 22, who was fatally wounded during last month’s shooting on South Street.
People are going to remember this young man’s name. And it’s going to be remembered for more than his having been in the wrong place at the wrong time on that awful night, when he was one of three people killed and 11 others injured.
His name will be repeated, hopefully, by generations of schoolchildren to come, thanks to efforts by his alma mater and employer, Girard College. The school, which offers a five-day boarding program, has established the Kristopher Minners Memorial Fund, which will distribute annual awards to sixth-grade students who embody empathy, compassion, and kindness — traits for which Minners was known.
“We’re living in a city where gun violence happens all the time,” Sylvia Bastani, Girard’s chief advancement officer, told me. “We don’t want Kris to become simply another name on the roster of victims to gun violence in the city of Philadelphia. We want to perpetuate his legacy.”
The school is looking to raise $10,000 so it can continue the commemoration in perpetuity. So far it has raised $1,500. School officials also plan to rename its annual resident assistant of the month award after Minners, who had begun working as an RA earlier this year.
Darin Toliver — a member of the Mayor’s Commission on African American Males — praised what Girard College is doing and said it’s important that we don’t fall into the habit of normalizing the deaths of young Black men during the city’s ongoing gun violence crisis. As of this writing, a total of 309 people have become homicide victims in Philadelphia this year, a disproportionately high percentage of whom are young Black males.
“Kristopher’s story has to be told because it contradicts what society thinks of young Black boys and men, the negative stereotypes. He was on the opposite end — a role model, positive, strong, respectful, and loving,” Toliver told me. “He was a man who wanted to make a difference in the lives of young people.
“His story has to live on,” he said.
Hopefully, students and employees who receive awards in Minners’ name will be just as inspired as I was to get my scholarship in the name of Maurice Williams.
While working on this column, I looked up Williams and happened across a Washington Post story published last month about the release of his killer, Abdul Muzikirone, from prison. The article includes Williams’ smiling face in a black-and-white photo hanging on the door of the city’s press room, which is named in his honor. I found myself gazing at it. He’d been a talented rookie reporter, and his scholarship gave me a boost of confidence at a time when I needed it so that I, too, could become a journalist. I’ll always be grateful for that.
“That’s what I want,” Rebecca Minners told me about her son, Kristopher. “Somebody’s going to look up his name, and they’re going to see how he was and what kind of person he was. That’s what I want to see.”
Minners, who was buried wearing Girard College colors, attended the boarding school from the second through ninth grades. He transferred to Cheltenham High School, from which he graduated in 2019. The basketball-loving young man with the bright smile aspired to be a counselor and had been excited to return to his alma mater last January as a residential adviser, advising sixth- and second-grade boys. He referred to them as “my kids” and was teaching them to play chess. During his short time working at the school, he became so attached to his young charges that he bragged when seven out of the eight of them made the honor roll.
While removing his belongings from his on-campus apartment where he’d lived, his mother told me she came across a journal he had been keeping. In it, he called his time back at Girard the happiest of his life.
The awards given in his name will be a proverbial pat on the back for the recipients. And they will know his name.