Parents Commemorate Anniversary of Their Teenagers’ Death with Fundraiser for Black Lives Matter: ‘Nobody’s Kids Should Die.’

Last year, the Journal spoke with Gail Lerner and Colin Campbell, parents of teenagers Ruby and Hart who were killed on June 12 when the car they were traveling in was hit by a drunk driver. The couple also shared their eulogies they delivered for their children. 

One year later, Lerner and Campbell, while grieving the first anniversary of the death of Ruby and Hart, also set up a Gofundme account to raise money for Black Lives Matter in their children’s names. Why did they do this? Read below:

My husband Colin and I are white. Just putting it out there. It’ll be relevant in a minute. One year ago today, our two teenagers, Ruby and Hart Campbell, were killed when a drunk driver crashed into our car, ending their lives and destroying ours. Since the sickening moment of impact, we have been relentlessly heartbroken, furious, rarely able to imagine a future with any joy in it, and sick with survivor guilt in the moments we can.

I thought Colin and I would be spending this painful week thinking only of the unending pain we suffer as grieving parents. Instead, I find my mind and heart consumed with thoughts of other mothers who grieve young children and teenagers as well: Tamir Rice’s mother, Samaria; Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton; Michael Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, and countless other black parents who mourn children of all ages. We all have the single most terrible thing that can happen to a parent in common, but because of our race, we have little else.

Ruby and Hart’s deaths were immediately condemned as senseless and tragic. Police and onlookers converged upon their bodies with the sole intention of saving their lives. We believe that the police are doing their best to bring their killer to justice, and we have been treated with respect and courtesy. Our children are being remembered solely as the wonderful, loving, kind people they were. No one would ever consider blaming them for their own deaths. Colin and I had the financial safety net and medical access needed to take time off work and seek the therapy that was crucial in helping us survive this catastrophe as best we can. Our privilege is apparent even in our devastation. We are asking everyone in our small and large communities who have loved and supported us this past year to love and support the grieving parents of murdered black children by making a donation here to Black Lives Matter in memory of Ruby & Hart Campbell here. Please share! Thank you.