Surrounded by family who also lost loved ones to gun violence, Lucy Small was presented with a plaque honoring her son on behalf of the National Action Network's Asbury Park chapter.
NEPTUNE TWP. — Lucy Small stood on a stage Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Presbyterian Church with a bouquet of roses in one hand and a tissue clenched tight in the other hand. Tears flowed down her face.
Her son, Jamar Small, had stood on the same stage exactly a year ago as a living example of how hard work and dedication could lead to a successful life away from drugs and violence. But Small, 24, became another victim to the environment he evaded for years.
Surrounded by mothers who also lost sons to gun violence, Lucy Small was presented with a plaque on behalf of the National Action Network's Asbury Park chapter. Cassie Jones, 8, who was grazed by a bullet during a gun battle in the city last year, was also recognized.
Lucy Small didn't speak at the presentation, but briefly spoke with NJ Advance Media in an interview after the ceremony.
"I kept him out of the gangs. He wasn't in the gangs," Lucy Small said of her son. "He was very smart and educated in school, and he wanted better. He wanted to go to the NFL.
"He wanted better," she repeated, after a slight pause.
That sentiment was echoed Monday evening by several speakers during a two-hour Martin Luther King Jr. Day service at the Neptune church that shares the same name as the slain civil rights leader.
The Rev. Bernard F. Johnson III of the Friendship Baptist Church in Asbury Park said better communities requires action from its members.
"Who's going to stop these murders?" Johnson questioned. "We can preach about it, we can talk about it, but it's time to get involved. It's not about the person sitting next to you and not about the gang-bangers and not about the bloods and crips; it's not about black and white; it's not about the government and the community; you need to know people are not your problem. If people were your problem, we would see a much different dynamic."
The problem is a spiritual one, he continued, and it will leave only when the people of the community humbly come together.
Tevin Garrett, who was paralyzed after taking two bullets to the head and neck, said the Asbury Park community has lost so many people to gun violence over the years its hard to keep track of the names.
"We lost so many people to the streets, and I don't know where to start," he said.
"A brother like Small," he continued, "took a shot to the stomach and I did way worse than that, so why am I hear?"
Garrett is now a member of Epic Will Power Inc., a newly formed nonprofit organization that promotes awareness for spinal cord injuries. He said when violence strikes cities like Asbury Park, Long Branch and Neptune Township, it rattles the entire community.
"We know each other, we see each other," he said. "We're all family in some type of way. When someone dies, it hurts everyone."
The Rev. Kevin Nunn, vice president of the Asbury Park-Neptune Ministerial Alliance, said part of the problem is the business and redevelopment in Asbury Park isn't aimed at helping the youth in the community.
"Don't you blame no brotha in this community until you have given him every opportunity to have a job," Nunn said, receiving a thunderous applause from the crowd of a couple hundred. "It is not the people, it's the environment ... until you know the landscape, you can't change the city."
Jamar Small graduated from Texas Southern University in Houston with a degree in business administration. (Photo courtesy of the Small family). Before Jamar Small was shot and killed in December, Lucy Small said he would always return to Asbury Park to mentor the young children in the community.
"He came back to help the kids in the school system, he wanted to be a teacher," she said. "If he was here now, he would be right here talking and coaching them. ... We just gotta' stick with our babies. Stick with our babies."
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.