According to Atlanta police, there was a spat outside the club over a parking space. He had arrived back at his car when shots rang out. He was scouting locations to film a music video that night and checked out a club in northwest Atlanta. Joseph was a photographer and produced short films and music videos through his J. Joseph with a camera doing what he loved best. He wasn’t kicking it with some bad dudes on the night of August 13, but a bullet that wasn’t meant for him found him anyway. Tragically, my grandson, Joseph London Smith, became one of them. Proximity to individuals who do not value life, who would fire a weapon over a minor falling out, can have deadly consequences, particularly for Black men and boys. I understand coach Sanders wanting to keep those young men close to be on the safe side. They can talk about you, ridicule you, clown you, but you’re going to have to disconnect. “People who are influential are leaving us consistently,” Sanders continued. Sanders went on to warn the players to thoughtfully consider who’s around them and the situations they put themselves in. Takeoff, whose birth name was Kirshnick Khari Ball, was reportedly the unintended victim of gunfire that erupted at a private gathering following an altercation over a dice game.

The day after hip hop artist Takeoff of the Grammy award-winning group Migos was shot and killed at a Houston bowling alley, a YouTube video went viral showing Deion Sanders, the NFL Hall of Famer and coach of Jackson State University’s football team, telling his players in Houston for a game: “Y’all ain’t leaving the hotel until further notice.” Joseph London Smith was born with a smile on his face.

November 7th is a special date in my family. You can read my complete tribute to Joseph below.

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