IN MEMORIAM BY TOMMIEA P. JACKSON
Domestic violence affects the lives of thousands of women, children and men everyday, but few people ever discuss it. That is changing around the campus of Jackson State University following the tragic death of Latasha Danielle Norman. Students, faculty and staff are talking and sponsoring a number of activities focused on preventing similar events. The country responded to the story about a beautiful young woman reported missing after a class on Nov. 13, 2007. Jackson media outlets including The Clarion-Ledger and WLBT-TV joined national media outlets such as “The Tom Joyner Morning Show,” CNN’s “Nancy Grace” and “America’s Most Wanted” in spreading the word. Unfortunately, after 16 days of searches and prayer vigils on and off campus, Latasha’s body was found in a wooded area of Hinds County. Her former boyfriend has been accused in her slaying. “Tasha,” as her friends and family called her, was a talented young woman who dreamed of opening an accounting firm in her hometown of Greenville, Miss., with her cousin, Takesha Norman. She worked in the Office of Student Publications, often volunteering for the campus newspaper and the yearbook, and served as the Student Government Association representative for the campus’ Accounting Society. Bright, hardworking and committed are just a few words her family members use to describe the 20-year-old junior. She loved baking pound cakes with her grandmother, Bertha, 81, who raised her, and playing basketball with her mother, Patricia, and brothers Deshun, 28, and Danny, 16. “She was very goal-oriented and very independent,” says Freddy Norman, a Jackson State alumnus who works as a graphic artist and photographer at the university. “Tasha always liked to do things on her own.” Norman, who refers to her not as his niece but his little sister, says her death has been a wake-up call of sorts for the public. “I think that Tasha’s death really brought to the forefront the issue of date violence. It got people to start having a dialogue on date violence.” As difficult as the experience has been, Norman says the public support helped his family stay strong. “It was very touching to get all of the cards and calls from people all over the country. Those things helped us stay encouraged and positive throughout the whole ordeal.” TRIUMPH FROM TRAGEDY Though heartbreaking for her biological family and the Jackson State family, Latasha’s life has become an opportunity for teaching. The university has implemented
conventional and unconventional means of educating the campus and larger community about safety, particularly when it comes to romantic relationships. “We’ve had more students willing to speak out and say they, too, are victims,” says Melissa Benford, coordinator of Project S.T.A.R.S. (Students/Sisters Taking a Radical Stand). “We’ve increased our presence on the campus as more organizations are inviting us to share information with them.” Jasmin Searcy has been instrumental in coming up with some of those nontraditional means to inform students. “I’ve found that students like to see things that are different,” says Searcy, Miss Jackson State University 2007–08, whose platform is Project CHANGES, an acronym for Challenging Humans to Adopt New Goals for Everyday Situations. “They like to get involved in something and learn at the same time.” Searcy sponsored the “Run-A-Way” fashion show to present the different faces of abuse, and “Fashion With a Purpose” to share information about domestic violence, breast cancer, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. “Latasha’s life has taught me to always keep my eyes open. You never know what a person is going through.” Before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 1,500 who attended Latasha’s memorial service on Dec. 3, 2007, at the Rose Embly McCoy Auditorium, President Ronald Mason Jr. announced the establishment of the Latasha Norman Abuse Prevention Fund. The fund will support Jackson State’s newly renamed counseling center, which was created in September and is now housed in the
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Melissa Benford
Jasmin Searcy