you know, especially like around his birthdays. you know, there s not really a day that i don t. steven: i m sad that i never got to see him as an adult because i just know that he would have been like, a great dad. like, i know that. i know that he would like, he would have been everything to his kids. like, his sister, he was like everything to her. natacha: to see how much support that s actually out here today in honor of my brother s life is amazing to me. thelma: i just want to thank the town of teaneck for the tree of healing for my son in his name. it s been a long, long time coming. a long time coming. now we re going to let these balloons go in phillip pannell s name. rest in heaven, phillip, let it go. male: happy birthday, phillip. this is for you. (music) much love, phillip pannell. (clapping)
but i just wanted to make sure that the community was brought up to date and up to speed. jim: sure, things have changed. gervonn: after george floyd happened, there was a community outcry for a black lives matter mural in teaneck. there were students that started with this, young black students, young white students. all these petitions came in week after week, placing a demand. natacha: we presented a design to them and it had my brother s name in the middle of one of the letters, and they was like, oh no, we re opposed of this because it has full pannell s name on it. when we asked them why, and they said that there are people to this day who are on the opposing side that believes that, you know, spath was justified. jim: one of the things that we were concerned about was an emphasis on names because we wanted something that we felt would bring together the township. elie: i think that there are a lot of people in this community that still feel the divisions, and i did not
thelma: why, lord, why? dale: let s go. that s all right. they ll be taken care of. thelma: why lord, jesus, why? dale: 16 year old boy, in his grave, dead. shot in the back. gonna let this man walk. how? there s no justice in this world. none! thelma: (crying) dale: none! thelma: (crying) why? thelma: oh, boy. peter: after thelma pannell was led out of the courtroom by her friend, she had all but collapsed in the hallway. the press was not allowed anywhere near the courtroom for about good 5 minutes, because thelma pannell was outside of that courtroom in a hallway, sobbing, just terrible, deep sobs. natacha: my mother was really hysterical and she broke down and she was saying, why, why? why, lord? bernie: i remember phil s mom s face
it could be your community tomorrow. (music) natacha: some people in teaneck, i believe, are on the right side of history. when the teaneck board of education said, we re going to have a mural, i was like, okay, finally, after all these years, teaneck, new jersey is going to honor phillip pannell. (music) his name is not going to be in a parking lot on a mural. it s going to be at teaneck high school, the high school that he loved, the high school that he should have been able to graduate from. today is a positive day. thelma: yes, it is. natacha: today is a good day. because today teaneck, new jersey, has acknowledged that phillip pannell s life mattered. thelma: life mattered. (clapping)