Isaiah 40 Films Presents: "The Haps" (it is what it is)

Give It Up for the People's Champ

R.I.P. Koehler Ramsey 8/4/04
When the news of a friend or an aquaintance's death is handed to you it's never easy... especially when it's someone you see on a daily basis... especially when it's murder... and especially when it happens right outside your front door.

But every memory I have of Kelo comes to me with a smile. He was known as the "People's Champ" and in the aftermath of his demise, that name is so fitting. At the scene of his death the streets were filled with friends, former schoolmates, students, and teachers of the young brother.

To me, Kelo was a fighter. He fought peer pressure, the pressure of being a father, the pressure of finding employment, and the pressure of being a young black man... all with his head up. We would talk every now and then about almost anything: school, life, work God, kids... We both graduated in the same class (2002) from Fisk University and had taught together in the Project Reflect Afterschool Program here in Nashville.

To see Kelo with kids was amazing. He loved them and they loved him. I think that he was very much still a kid at heart (with the with the ways of an old man). He had the swagger of a guy who had a million bucks... though he was strugglin' to make it... just like the rest of us...

I don't know a whole lot about Kelo's criminal record or his ties to the streets, but what I do know is that he was a good person, and didn't deserve what happened to him. He was like all of us college grads who are just trying to make something of themselves in a world where a degree isn't neccessarily a golden ticket to opportunity. He was indeed the true "People's Champ" and will be missed by everyone who knew him.

For those interested in finding local news about the murder you can check on www.wsmv.com, www.wkrn.com, www.fox17.com, www.newschannel5.com, and www.tennessean.com

There's a great article about who he was as a man at this link:
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/08/55440919.shtml?Element_ID=55440919

Be safe out there... and God Bless!
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