FAIRFIELD DAILY REPUBLIC - THE OTHER SIDE


You can't kill an idea
By Kelvin Wade September 02, 2010

I originally wrote about the sentencing this week of Matt Garcia's killer, Henry Don Williams, to 50 years to life in prison. It's fitting that Williams has been sentenced almost two years to the day he shot Matt.

Williams will now reap what he has sown. But as I read over the column, I realized I didn't want to dedicate an entire commentary to the evil that men do. Let this be the end of him. I want to write about Matt.

The first conversation I had with Matt Garcia at Joe's Buffet in the summer of 2007 is so poignant now. He told me how much he loved Fairfield. He said he planned on raising his children here, living his entire life here and, he told me he was going to die here.

I remember thinking some politicians are dedicated to politics and their careers but this was someone who was genuinely motivated by his love for the community.

We talked about gangs. He told me about his father being in prison. He went into detail about the dangerous road some of his relatives and friends had gone down. He acknowledged how easy it would've been for him to go that direction but he wanted to make a difference.

I was honored that he reached out to me repeatedly during the campaign and after he was sworn in for advice or just to talk. While we often talked about young people and crime, two parts of his dream to better Fairfield, he was also concerned about seniors.

It was this third component that really made him fascinating to me. He was interested in bringing people together across the gulfs of age, race and ideology. That's how you build a community, he would say.

It would be easy to say Matt was the young guy who was for the youth but what he really wanted to accomplish went deeper than that.

Some have grown weary of hearing about Matt Garcia and the Matt Garcia Foundation. There are those who feel a cult of personality has grown up around Matt. But name another Fairfielder who has motivated and inspired so many.

There are kids staying in school, working hard and playing sports because of Matt Garcia. Others have been inspired to run for public office, volunteer or give money.

Raymond and Teresa Courtemanche have worked tirelessly with others with the Matt Garcia Foundation. By the way, the foundation is sponsoring a gun buyback program from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 1600 Union Ave. in Fairfield. Go to http://www.mattgarciadreamteam.org for more information.

One of the ways we honor Matt's memory is to remember that there are younger Henry Don Williams' in our community. Like Teresa Courtemanche has said, these are the kids Matt was trying to reach. Maybe through the efforts of teachers, parents, volunteers, and youth activities, we can help change the trajectory of youngsters.

The French poet Victor Hugo said that nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. A drunken fool recklessly firing a gun into the night can't stop the seed of that idea from being planted and germinating throughout the community.

Though one man fell, hundreds have risen to carry on his fight, his idea. The dream lives on. Peace.

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