He had such bad untreated diabetes. They already were cutting off some of his toes and he was only on his 50s. He kept brushing off advice from his doctor that he was on a course towards this happening. I’d like to imagine that in a world where people didn’t feel pressured by finances to avoid taking care of these serious health issues, that he might have had the liberty to be more cautious.

But, you all know what, what was also sad was seeing the rest of our predominantly black kitchen staff break down into tears when they told him he wasn’t going to come out of the coma his heart attack put him in. We were all talking about him making a recovery while serving lunch a couple of days after, the dinner cook has just come in. She is the sweetest lady any of you will meet, a real ally to any queer comrades, and she said to us “I’m going to give that guy the biggest mother f-ing hug when he gets out.” And shortly after, the head of the facility came in and told us, and everyone started to sob and cry.

And to tragically refer back to my starting point, which was disparities in black homeownership, he had just bought a home.