Friday, June 5, 2009
By W. Zachary Malinowski
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — David J. Cartagena, a legendary streetworker and tireless advocate of nonviolence, was remembered Thursday morning as a bridge builder among warring youth across the city.
About 300 family members, friends, admirers and dignitaries poured into St. Michael the Archangel Church to say their final goodbyes to Cartagena, a former gang member and criminal, who turned his life around and became one of the city’s best-known advocates for peace.
Cartagena, 38, was a senior streetworker for the Institute for the Study of Peace and Nonviolence, on the city’s South Side. He was killed early Sunday morning in a multi-car crash on Route 95, near the Providence Place mall that remains under investigation by the state police.
The Rev. Raymond Malm, who celebrated the funeral Mass, told the gathering that Cartagena had devoted his life to helping others.
“The souls of the just are in the hands of God,” Malm said. “David dedicated his life to peace. Remember, this is a movement. This will change the world.”
Family members and friends carried Cartagena’s casket through a gauntlet of the institute’s streetworkers, each of whom held a symbol of peace: a long-stemmed white rose. The casket was hoisted up the steep cement steps, while Cartagena’s mother, Maria, was escorted by Col. Dean M. Esserman, the Providence police chief.
The crowd was an eclectic mix. Tough street kids paid their respects alongside Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr., Mayor David N. Cicilline and ranking members of the Providence Police Department. The makeup of the audience was indicative of the influence Cartagena had on people from all walks of life.
The day before, hundreds of people turned out for calling hours at Bell Funeral Home, on Broad Street, some waiting in line as long as 90 minutes to pay their respects.
Teny O. Gross, executive director of the nonviolence institute, delivered a moving eulogy that paid tribute to Cartagena and his ability to build bridges among rivals such as the troubled young men in Manton Heights and Hartford Park and street gangs like the Oriental Rascals and Providence Street Boys.
Gross, a former Israeli soldier, said that Cartagena always felt peace was achievable.
“He would have made the Palestinians and Israelis laugh and we would have had peace by now,” he said.
Cartagena once ran with the Almighty Latin King Nation street gang, and he had more than a dozen arrests in adulthood for burglary, drug charges and resisting arrest. His nickname was “Devious,” for successfully escaping through the roof of the old police station at LaSalle Square. He had spent years in the Training School for juvenile offenders and the Adult Correctional Institutions.
In 2005, Gross hired him at the institute for nonviolence and Cartagena found his calling — trying to persuade young people to avoid the mistakes he had made.
Gross had a close relationship with Cartagena, an avid reader who combed through the newspaper each morning and sent him messages about various topics.
“You had to listen, you had to challenge and you had to argue,” he said. “And, we argued.”
Gross concluded his eulogy by lifting his cell phone and holding it against a microphone. Suddenly, Cartagena’s voice from his answering machine echoed through the cavernous cathedral.
“I loved you David,” Gross said. “We loved you.”
Sobs filled the crowded pews as Gross left the podium and returned to his seat.
bmalinow@projo.com
i Knew only david for about five minutes. And i learned about his life after his death. we have that one time in our life when we choose who we will be , daivd choose to be hero and leader. he didnt choose money or fame. he choose love and peace. he gave his life to providence kids.Ther is a saying give me afish and feed me for a day, teach me to fish feed me for a lifetime. Lest not forget his life and what he did , but lets us honor his life and his dream for abetter providence. by keeping his dream alive. And finishing what he started. David Gracias por exister ,
Posted by: Bradwell Reyes | August 17, 2009 at 11:11 PM