Hundreds march to remember murdered activist
Posted May 7, 2012 05:21:33 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Laughter, singing, and tears were all part of a memorial service held in remembrance of Raymond Taavel.
Taavel died after he was attacked while trying to break up a fight on Gottingen Street April 17.
Hundreds of people marched along Barrington Street and into St. Matthews United Church Sunday afternoon.
HRM Councillor Dawn Sloane was one of hundreds of people who took part in the service, and said she was glad to see so many people take the time to pay tribute to Taavel.
“He touched a lot of people’s lives and this is the best way we can show how much he meant to us,” says Sloane, who says she remembers Taavel as a gentle person. “He enjoyed being a very good civic member of our community, who believed that anything is possible and that peace is the way to do things.”
Steve MacLeod, another of Taavel’s friends, says he should be remembered as more than just an activist.
“He had the best hug that you could imagine, he could make friends with anybody with a hug,” says MacLeod. “If he saw you, and he knew you, that hug was always there. He was just a great warm guy, a great friend and he’d fight for anybody.”
MacLeod says he hopes people will learn from Taavel’s example and not be afraid to do the right thing.
“If I saw one of my friends having the crap kicked out of him, I’d step in,” he says. “This was a terrible thing that could have happened to anyone.”
Gabe is with the Wapanaki Two-Spirit Alliance, which he says Taavel connected with in September.
He says Taavel’s death is a tragedy, but also says it’s time to heal and let him rest.
“Raymond is in the spirit world and he needs to stay there and we keep dragging him back into our world, and back and forth, and he needs time to adjust to the spirit world,” he said.
Donations in Taavel’s memory can be made to The Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project, The Youth Project, or Mobile Outreach Street Health.
A 32-year-old man, who was on an unescorted pass from the East Coast Forensic Hospital at the time of Taavel’s death, has been charged with second-degree murder.
Andre Denny is currently undergoing a psychiatric assessment.
