-Hi, everybody. I'm De'Auzjanae.
I'm D'Vonne's little sister of four.
I want to just say, like,
this is a huge honor for our family as a whole.
Also, today is our dad,
D'Vonne Pickett Sr.'s, birthday.
As you guys all know, this block,
the scene as a whole played a major role
in D'Vonne's upbringing and who he was and who he is
and where his legacy will continue to go.
And so I just want to thank everybody
that had a part in this to allow us to do this and...
Yeah, it's major.
I could just hear my brother right now, like, "Stop playing.
Stop playing, huh?" I could just hear it.
He's just happy, and I'm just glad.
Like, all my family's here. All of us together.
My sister-in-law, my niece, my nephews, the whole family.
It's real big, and I'm ready --
and I'm ready -- you know, ready to see it.
So thank you. My daughter do want to say something, though.
-What? -Say something, darling.
-Come on. -I have nothing to say.
-Okay. Go on, T. You want to talk?
-No. -No?
-Hi!
-Guys, back up, back up, back up.
-I want to say stop fighting. -Okay.
-Hi, everybody. I'm...
I'm D'Vonne's mom.
I just want to say thank you to everybody, as well, today.
It's... -It's okay, baby, it's okay.
-It's a good day for me, but it's a bad day for me.
Today's, as my daughter said, Big D'Vonne's birthday.
I call him Big Head. That's my big head.
We lost him to gun violence, as well.
Meaning for this, it all began here.
It really did. It really did.
Like, me and Big D'Vonne met here.
We grew up doing what we did and left that and our son came
and did something different.
I'm so proud. I'm so proud.
I just wish my baby was here with us to celebrate.
And for me, my journey is to keep my baby's name alive
wherever I can do that, and so that's my fight.
And again, thank you to everybody who's here
and just keep praying for our family.
Just keep praying because this is really hard.
Again, thank you.
Who we got?
Come on up.
You want to go out of order? All right, you got it.
-You got it. What's the order?
-It ain't you. No, no. Go ahead.
Go ahead. Go ahead. -All right.
You want to do it? I'm going to speak for you.
What you want to say? -Go ahead, nephew.
-I just want to say thank you
to everybody who's shown up, to the city of Seattle.
Like, I don't know if it's really understood how big it is
to be a child of your city,
to, like, live your life through purpose, to give back.
We have three children.
So every morning, I see D'Vonne in their face.
Every day, I'm reminded that he's still here in his legacy.
If we're religious and we want to get into it,
everlasting life, it's my three children.
That's every day for me.
That's D'Vonne every day for me, reminded.
So to have a street after their grandfather
and their father is inspiration and motivation
to keep pushing as a mother for these children.
We can't change the past. The past is the past.
But every moment we have right now moving forward
is what we have choice in,
what we have purpose in, what we have, everything to give
for everything that's happened before us,
if that makes any sense to everybody here.
Me as a woman, as a wife, as a mother, as a nurturer --
I'm here to just love on my babies,
to love on my community.
When I met D'Vonne, D'Vonne knew that, like, I don't know my dad.
My mom neglected me. I was raised by my great aunt.
So family and community.
The village mentality is huge for me as a person individually.
So when I met D'Vonne and he embraced me with that,
that's what we built our whole future on,
was how are we going to give back to our babies?
How are we going to give back to our family that's been broken?
How are we going to give back to the past
that can't see no future?
But we're here today, and I see it right now.
I see all these faces.
I see these babies smiling when really they could be sad
and depressed and feel like they have nothing to live for.
But we remind them every day and we nurture them every day.
And that's my purpose, is the future.
Yesterday, the mayor gave a wonderful presentation
on the plans of Seattle for this year going forward,
and I feel like D'Vonne's life is not in vain.
It goes hand in hand with our city,
with our own individual lives as we wake up every day
and look at ourselves in the mirror, at who we want to be.
It's a reminder and it's a promise
that you have for me as an individual from this city
to continue to push forward, and why I emphasize the city,
because this is a street name in our city.
This is not something that's light.
This is not something that just happens every day.
An address where the postman --
so of course I'm going to talk about the mail,
but the address is one of those things
that solidifies you as a citizen in our United States of America.
And to have D'Vonne Pickett Jr.'s name
on a street sign, I feel like,
is going to motivate and inspire our youth,
to remind them that you can be who you want to be.
You can come from what you come from
and still be somebody to everybody.
Meaning that, yeah, this is a block in the city
that maybe only means something to a few individuals,
but it's going to mean something to the world
because it just shows the youth
that when you give your life to service and to purpose,
that people going to show up for you.
So I just want to leave with saying
thank you to everybody who has honored
D'Vonne Pickett Jr.'s life
and sees the purpose in honoring his life
because although he only has three children,
his life is still impacting,
I want to say, thousands, millions, the world.
D'Vonne's been all over the world.
He's been to China, he's been to Europe,
he's been to South America.
All those places that --
and even here individually with anybody
that he's talked to for just a moment,
you felt something.
And so I just want people, when you come right here
and you see D'Vonne Pickett Jr. Way,
that you're inspired
and you're motivated to be a positive influence on those
that you come in contact with.
So thank you, guys.
-All right. We got a couple of speakers here.
Couple family members, friends.
[ Overlapping chatter ]
-The mic is hot. Let's go.
[ Laughter ]
-Oh, you don't want that. [ Laughter ]
-We just...
We're grandmamas.
I'm paternal grandmama, this is maternal grandmother.
And we're honored.
We thank you guys for doing this.
It's my son's birthday,
and I think it's just befitting D'Vonne.
Little D loved this woman and he loved me, and we loved him,
and we miss him.
-And I knew from a young age, when D'Vonne was a boy,
that he was going to be something special.
I did not know how great he would be.
I did not know what an impact he would have.
But coming from the city and growing up in the city
and feeling it from our hearts,
I appreciate my grandson and I love him.
And long live D'Vonne Pickett Jr.!
-Long live!
-Stop playing! -Stop playing!
-This mic is working? -Yeah.
It's recording. -Oh, is that what's going on?
-It is not amplifying.
So you got to bellow it out there.
-Did Grandpa want to speak before?
-No, you go ahead. I'll go after you.
-You got to yell it out.
-Can anybody hear me out there?
Y'all sure about -- Y'all positive?
All right. -It's not amplifying.
It's just recording.
-Oh, is that what it is? -It's recording a channel.
-I still can't hold it in my hand?
I think -- no, they don't want you to.
-Okay, no problem. No problem. -Yell it out there.
No problem. No problem. So let's make this easy.
And I'll try not to keep y'all long at all.
Yeah, I'll try not to keep y'all long.
So there are a few key points that I want to hit.
Right? In the name of God most gracious, most merciful.
Because that's what I believe. That's who I believe in.
I am Jermaine Williams, but more importantly than who I am
is what I'm here for, right?
More importantly than who I am is what I'm here for.
I am the bloodline of D'Vonne Pickett Sr.
I am the bloodline of D'Vonne Pickett Jr.
And so there's a phenomenal thing about today,
about this very, very moment.
Right? While we stand here.
And that is the fact that my cousin, Lois Marie,
who's around here in a beautiful burgundy coat.
She got a flower on the hood.
You can't miss it if you wanted to.
She's the first person from our family
to migrate out here back in the Midwest.
From the Midwest, she's the first person
to come out here in the early '80s,
to establish our family out here
in this community in the city of Seattle,
when many of us had no idea what Seattle was or we thought
when you said Washington, you were talking about D.C., right?
Many years ago.
Her sister Monica came out here some time later.
Hence D'Vonne Pickett Sr.'s mom.
Right? Of course, we know the rest of the story.
He met Nicky. They had children.
The rest is kind of history, right?
But bringing it back full circle.
Bringing it back full circle, I would be -- like,
respectfully and considerately, I would be remiss to not say
that we're here as the result of something tragic.
Gun violence killed my cousin D'Vonne Pickett Sr.
Gun violence Killed my cousin D'Vonne Pickett Jr.
I'd be remiss if I didn't say that, and I wouldn't be true.
And I wouldn't be honest and authentic if I didn't say that.
So there's something that has to be done about that.
I'll let y'all figure out what that is.
But I simply want to say that we have to address that
if we don't address anything else.
Now let's get to the amazing stuff.
We're standing here today in a place
and in a space and in a time.
Seattle, Washington, King County, Washington,
United States of America.
And we have an opportunity to witness
D'Vonne Pickett Jr. Way.
This is not something where we read
about somebody many, many years ago.
I'm not saying anything disparaging
or slighting our heroes that came prior to us,
our ancestors -- that's not what I'm saying.
What I'm saying is that we're here in real life,
in real time, having an opportunity to see this unveil,
to talk about somebody who we knew,
who we shook hands with,
who we shared a meal with, who we love.
-Yes. -Right?
Like, we're close. We know them.
That's ginormous, for lack of a better term.
That's ginormous.
Everything and everyone
that went into making this happen today,
I definitely offer a salute and a shout-out from my heart.
From my gut. Right?
And one of the very last pieces that I want to say
before I get ready to get out of here.
One of the very last pieces I want to say
before I get ready to turn it over
to the next amazing presenter, right?
Is not only do I thank everybody who came out today,
who took the opportunity and made time and space
and sacrificed whatever they needed to do
in order to make sure that they were here,
but I want to make sure that we remember D'Vonne Pickett Jr.
came from the womb of Nicky, who I call Nick-Nick, right?
Her mom is here. Her dad is here.
Her children are here, and what's so amazing about that
is that we never know exactly what our destiny is going to be.
We never know exactly -- when we look at this kid
and we say to ourself,
"That's a bad kid. Get rid of that one.
Let's focus our attention on the next one."
You have no idea what that child's destiny is going to be.
Good, bad, ugly, indifferent, black, white, otherwise.
You have no idea.
I'm pretty sure if you date it back 20,
30 years from now -- and D'Vonne Pickett wasn't that old.
But if you date it back 20, 30 years from now,
nobody had any idea that we would be standing here.
Right here, right now, today, in this moment, in this space,
celebrating what we're celebrating.
Can I get an ashay? -Ashay!
-Can I get an ashay? -Ashay!
-So let's not forget the reason that we came here.
Let's not forget the reason that we stand here.
And let's not forget the reason
that we continue to traverse through here
when it's all said and done.
There'll be people who come through here who never knew
who D'Vonne Pickett Jr. was.
There are people right here, right now
who never knew who D'Vonne Pickett Sr. was.
But we do. And we always have and we always will.
Allahu akbar.
And thank everybody for coming out.
-How you doing, everybody?
My name is Maurice Hunter. I'm D'Vonne's papa.
I am so proud of that young man.
That was my first-born grandchild.
I was there -- I was there when he was born.
I was there the day he left.
I've always been a part of his life.
We had a very special and humble relationship.
I loved my grandson, and he loved me.
I got three pictures that I carry in my wallet,
that I've carried in my wallet for 31 years,
the whole existence of his life.
This gentleman right here,
I showed them to him, I shared them with him.
I'm so proud because everywhere
and everything I've done for 31 years,
he was always in my wallet and in my life.
Our relationship was so special.
There was a little shop out in Renton
and they used to make power shakes.
D'Vonne and I used to meet there once or twice a month
to talk about things that were happening in his life,
things that he wanted my advice on,
things that I felt like I could advise him on.
It was a beautiful time for an hour and a half
that we would just sit and talk.
My grandson was more to me than a grandson.
He was a man. He was a young boy.
I watched him when he played sports back in the City Panthers
when he was young.
I watched him when he became a man.
I watched him when he -- one of his dreams
was to play professional basketball.
I watched him go down to Sacramento,
try out with the Kings.
When that didn't pan out, he came back here.
Then he went up to Canada.
He joined a professional basketball group up there.
And it kind of blew my mind a little bit
because he only stayed there for a month,
and then all of a sudden he popped back home.
So when I first saw him, I wanted to ask him, "Well, D,
what are you doing back so soon?"
He looked at me and he told me, he said, "Papa, you know what?
I want to have a family now. I got a family.
So my life is going to shift to do something different."
Thus became the entrepreneur, the husband, my grandson.
He had dreams and visions that meant so much to him
and his kids and his wife and to the community as a whole.
I want to thank the community for being here.
I want to thank the community for all your support
that you gave my grandson, even on the last day,
when I was able to see him.
My life changed from that point on.
And I don't want to go back and drag up all the old stuff.
But the day that my grandson got shot,
I was up there two hours before with my granddaughter,
loving on her.
Had I known that that was going to take place that day,
I never would have left.
And don't get me wrong,
I'm not saying that I could have did anything different.
It might be me that's not here instead of him.
I don't know. But it was God's plan.
And I'm so thankful that I was able to be a part of his life.
Now I thank God,
because I'm going to be able to be a part of his legacy.
And I want to thank everybody for being here
that helped me share this.
Thank you so much. -Thank you.
-All right, well,
I know that the mic ain't working, so I'll just shoot --
-It's working. It's recording.
-Okay. I'll just shoot from the hip.
-It's going to be online forever, too, by the way.
-No pressure. No pressure.
No, I know. I actually wrote a speech
just because I know for me, you know,
I can go on and on and I can be all over the place.
So I definitely wanted to just take a moment
to write my speech out. I wanted to let you guys know,
first and foremost, that it's a privilege and honor
to be standing here before all of your beautiful,
melanated faces.
Praise be to Allah.
It gives me great stoic joy to say
that this is monumental for the city of Seattle.
But it's even greater --
It's an even greater victorious and glorious win
for the Central District.
This will be the final day for black rich history.
And from this point forward,
we're declaring D'Vonne Pickett Jr.'s
honorary unveiling ceremony day
as the one that will twist the very fabric of nature
and history from which we have known it to be.
From his story to tell in our story.
And Black Rich History Month is now going to be converted
into Black Rich Future Year.
We're all -- we were all here and sincere
and devoted and committed to the execution of this.
Thus and so if you can hear it, my diction has true conviction.
While the totality of my experience
with my beloved brother
cannot be captured in a single statement or a snapshot,
I'll say this much --
D'Vonne and I stood on the same dignified principles,
and we represented the same banner
of better growth and development
our brotherhood extended across generations
throughout the nation.
And because of that, we shared a sacred bond
and a kinship with the same morals,
the same ethics, the same core values.
But there's still no more -- no mortal words
equipped with the human tongue that could fully describe
and convey the divine, intense and immense and infinite love
that he had for his mother,
for his father, and this family and his entire community.
All great men are born from the womb of a woman,
as he and I were.
We endeavor to show them how much we appreciate their love,
their warmth, and their presence with their sacrifices
and their contributions made to our lives,
to praise our mothers, first and foremost.
Mother Nicky. Absolutely. My mother, Michelle. Tanya.
And even beyond that point, we understood,
you know, to praise them
and to be able to acknowledge them
for everything that they've done.
He often spoke about being heavy over being airy.
Well, this here is real heavy. And we ain't playing no more.
We ain't playing. We stopped that.
So take a look at yourselves and look at our black skin.
It's rich.
Look at all of our black friends.
Everybody's legit.
Look at our black trends of distinguished originality
and charming personality.
It's all lit. It's all lit.
And he was definitely one of the best of us.
And because of him, Black Rich Future Year is here.
And today marks that day.
May you all value Little D's renaming
that will honor his memory
and his legacy right here in the heartbeat
and the pulse of this city like it's the Sabbath.
Let him and his example serve as a reminder to us all
that what we do in this life echoes into eternity.
D'Vonne Pickett Jr., our own hometown hero,
our Nipsey Hussle of the Central District,
is forever etched in our hearts.
Real love in abundance. I love you all.
Yeah, stop playing! Stop playing.
And we're definitely going to
keep his memory relevant like an elephant.
That's exactly what we are here to do.
Hello. Hello. That's what we're doing.
-On his dad's birthday.
-On his dad's birthday at that. -On Big D's birthday.
-Shout-out to Twin for sure. Shout-out to Twin.
-Before we do an unveiling,
we're going to hear from Councilmember Mosqueda,
Teresa Mosqueda,
and with the City Council to help start the process.
Teresa Mosqueda. -All right. Thanks, everybody.
-Okay.
When the sign was up there just a few minutes ago
and the name was seen,
we heard from the folks here in the community.
This is the beauty of community. This is the beauty of community.
Folks coming together to celebrate a life and a legacy
of D'Vonne Pickett Jr.
It is incredible to be here
and to have worked with Ms. Nicky Chappell,
to be here and to continue the work of Mr. Craig First-Rider
his brother, his sister, De'Auzjanae Pickett,
and his loving wife
and the mother of his children, KeAnna Rose Pickett.
Today is about celebrating life.
It's about continuing a legacy.
But it's about continuing the commitment to fight for
justice against gun violence, as you heard from his cousin,
and to make sure that we continue this effort.
Not tomorrow, not next month, not this year,
but for the rest of Seattle's history,
because future generations will know who he is,
who his father was.
And we will fight against the issues
and the injustices that he fought against every day.
I want to thank you all for being here.
It's really because of the family
that we're celebrating today, the extension of the legacy
and the fight and the activism that D'Vonne brought forward.
His family continued that.
They reached out to our office and immediately, Erin House,
who's with my office, said, "Yes, we will act."
She reached out to the Urban League.
She reached out to the Department of Transportation.
It was the family who made this happen.
And it will be the family and community
who help remind us every day about accountability
and continuing this legacy.
What we've heard today from the community
is that D'Vonne Pickett Jr.
was a pillar of not just the Central District,
but a pillar of the entire Seattle community.
They described him as a community leader,
a mentor, an entrepreneur, a friend, and above all else,
as a loving family member, as a father, and as an inspirer.
He loved the community that he worked with.
He was tireless in his efforts to build stronger,
more resilient communities
where folks have their own self-determination,
have the tools and the power to create and protect community
in the face of gentrification and equity.
It is an honor to be able to be
here with you and to have brought forward
the resolution honoring his life
and changing the street in front of us.
But we will continue to fight because the family has asked
for the entire street throughout our city to be renamed.
That is what we will continue to work towards
just as much as we continue to fight against gun violence
throughout our entire city, as well.
The resolution says -- and I will conclude with this
and hand it over to our collaborator,
the good mayor of the city of Seattle.
"Whereas D'Vonne embodied and internalized the beliefs --
a belief that being heavy over airy in all of his endeavors,
particularly in his role as a family patriarch,
as a mentor and a friend,
and to almost everyone he encountered throughout his life,
a sentiment he often uniquely expressed
in the form of his favorite catchphrase" --
-All: Stop playing!
-"Whereas D'Vonne Pickett Jr.'s personal philosophy on life
inspired his vision and commitment
to which was the driving force empowering the Central District
and surrounding neighborhoods as well as throughout the city
and other cities around this nation.
This entire world and nation was touched by his presence
and his inspiration.
And finally,
whereas one of D'Vonne's biggest accomplishments to date
was opening the postmark" -- -Postman.
-Excuse me, "the postman, back in August of 2018,
named in commemoration of his great-grandfather
and retired Postal Service member of 37-plus years,
D'Vonne had made this business
an essential center of the community
in the Central District and the entire city of Seattle.
Today, we commemorate more than just a life.
We commemorate a legacy of community-building, empowerment,
and a vision of the future.
And with this first step,
we will continue honoring a man larger than life.
Please help me in joining to turn it over
to the collaborator in this effort,
our good mayor of the city of Seattle, Mayor Bruce Harrell.
-Thank you. Thank you.
-I'm taking this thing off. Sorry, 21. I got to...
I know it's not amplified, but I'm stepping over here.
-Okay. On top? -Over here with Mama.
-On the top of the top.
-This thing better not break.
Now, listen, we heard from -- Craig, what did you say?
My viction is true conviction? I'm stealing that one.
-My diction got true conviction. -My diction got true conviction.
[ Laughter ]
I need everyone to hear this.
Now, these streets are not new to me.
I went to school right there and I walked down this street
every day for six years.
I live just a few blocks from here.
We talked about his death was the result of a bullet.
Brothers, I heard you here. Listened to Craig and Jermaine.
We got to protect our community. Do you understand?
We have to protect our community.
That is my job as your mayor.
But I have to make it clear. I need you.
I need you to help with these babies right here,
with D'Vonne's children.
You heard from two strong black men.
You heard their conviction to protect you,
your sisters, your mothers.
We are going to run this city together as a community.
No mother should have to go what this mother went through.
I got to repeat that.
No mother should have to go what this mother went through.
No wife should have to go what she went through.
No children should have to go through what they went through.
And we've got to stop to look for other people
to fix our problems.
Our community, we're going to work together.
I will be your mayor.
Like I said, these streets are not new to me at all.
In fact, I hope -- I've got family members here.
And I hope many of you knew my family,
and I hope you can keep a few secrets
about how we used to act when we were kids.
[ Laughter ] Let's cut that out.
But a little old bi-racial boy that went to school from here,
that grew up in the CD is now your mayor.
It's our turn to help everybody in this city.
Do you feel me?
You can't fake this kind of pain that they have.
This is real stuff.
In the year 2023, we're going to build one Seattle.
These babies are the most important.
They're as important as the CEO of the largest corporation.
They are as equally important, if not more important,
because they are our future.
We've got to pull this together. This is part of our fabric now.
D'Vonne is part of our history. He's part of our story.
He will live on in our hearts,
and he's going to live on in our streets.
-Yes, he is. Right on that sign.
-And so now we're going to pull it.
We're going to build our community together.
And we're going to build one Seattle!
Now, I don't know how we're going to pull this thing.
We already did it once.
Y'all are a little early on the pull.
-Y'all want me to pull it? I'll pull it.
-Who pulled it the first time?
Okay, You got it. You got it. You got it. Hold up.
Hold up. We're going to do a countdown.
We got to go "one, two, three."
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
-One, two, three.
[ Cheering ]