Botham Jean
Botham Jean was sitting in his living room watching football after a long workday. He was eating ice cream because his wisdom teeth were removed the week before. Amber Guyger, a police officer who lived directly below him, was coming off of a 13 hour shift and walked into the wrong apartment, allegedly believing it was her own. Thinking he was an intruder, she shot him dead without hesitation or opportunity for surrender. The saddest twist of fate was that she was the real intruder and was more preoccupied with losing her job than taking a human life.
Botham was acutely aware of racial profiling and actively tried to avoided it. His family attests to how he meticulously adjusted his appearance and conduct to protect himself from the biases toward black men in America. He had a warm and inviting smile; he drove the speed limit; he dressed in Ralph Lauren. More than that, he was naturally charismatic and compassionate. He was devoted to god and began preaching from age 14.
Botham Jean should still be in that Dallas apartment watching sports games, reading the Screwtape Letters, texting his best friend or chatting on the phone with his sister who he talked to nearly every day. Botham was not a dark silhouette in a stranger’s home: he was a big, bright, brilliant human being.
Botham Shem Jean was born on September 29th, 1991 in St Lucia. He was hard working, the top of his high school class, and he gave back to his community by volunteering at local institutions such as Saint Lucia Boys’ Training Center and the New Beginnings Transit Home. Some say that he was on track to return and become the Prime Minister some day.
He left the Carribean when he was 19 to attend Harding University in Arkansas. At Harding, he was a resident assistant, a member of the Good News Singers (a university-affiliated group which performs across the country), an intern for the campus ministry, a student advisor on the College of Business board, and a leader in the Sub T-16 social club.
The memories of his teachers and peers reflect his unmistakable presence on campus. Chuck Hicks, his music teacher, called him “son”. Alexis Stossel, who later became his best friend, says she was well-aware of him before they even met: “Everybody knows of Botham”. The University President Bruce McLarty remembers asking Botham to lead an old hymn for chapel once. Botham had never heard it before, but he learned and mastered the hymn over the phone with his grandmother in just one day. Through their eyes and others, it is easy to imagine Botham walking across campus in his faded navy Sub T-16 jersey, helping freshmen in need of guidance, or leading chapel with his strong voice.
After graduating, Botham became an accountant with PwC in Dallas. Though moving there was challenging, he faced the city with his best friend Alexis and eventually found a family in his church. His voice was described by the music ministry team at Dallas West Church of Christ as “a gift from God”.
Alexis and Bo went to Church together on Tuesday nights. Each of them would take notes on the sermon, and then they would go for dinner afterwards to swap thoughts. Bo was the type of person who liked to examine an issue or idea from all of the angles before forming an opinion. When he had an idea about something, he would text her, “yo I got a hot take”. Together, they discussed anything and everything, pulling arguments apart and forming new ones. And the few times they didn’t have anything to say, they would just send each other memes.
Bo’s relationship with Alexis is particularly moving. Looking in on some of the conversations and moments that they shared together offers a very clear picture of the kind of friend Botham was. Alexis considered Botham her person. He supported her as she struggled to find her career path, and he supported her when she eventually decided to move away. After she told him she was leaving Dallas, he sent the following messages to her:
I just want to take a sec to remind you to always shoot your shot
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take
…
You’re absolutely killing it! I just wanted to leave you this message to let you know I fully support your decision to move to Kilgore (not that you needed my approval or anything)
But this could be the best decision of your life. You’ll never know if you never attempt it.
Botham was also close to both of his siblings. The middle child of three, he had an older sister named Allisa and a younger brother named Brandt. When he moved away, it became difficult to maintain these relationships. While Allisa managed to keep in close contact with Botham, she remembers Brandt feeling like he lost his best friend when Bo left. She also remembers Botham's desperation to remain close to Brandt, shedding tears to her over the distance he felt growing between them. Bo was a role model to Brandt in many ways both big and little: Bo’s ambition motivated Brandt to find a career in engineering and start going to the gym. Brandt loved eating at Whataburger because Bo loved it. Brandt even carried the compassion that he learned from Botham into the trial against his murderer. Brandt forgave Amber Guyger, he told her he didn’t even want her to go to prison, he got up from the stand and gave her a hug -- because he felt it was what Botham would do. He wanted to #BeLikeBo.
However, Botham was not perfect and nor would he claim to be. He loved basketball but was terrible at it. He was a procrastinator. He was actively working and learning to make himself better, but he wasn’t sin free. He was true to himself, and that was what he asked of others. One time, his sister got a tattoo that she was planning to cover up before going home to visit family. Bo talked her out of it. “Be you”, he said. To be like Bo is to be the best, most genuine, most forgiving, most dedicated version of yourself.
Behind the Image
This still life is built on a red fabric, Botham’s favorite color. In fact, his apartment, the one which Amber Guyger mistook for her own, had a bright red doormat to differentiate it from the others. There is an array of sheet music to acknowledge the central role of song in Botham’s life. His hometown of St Lucia is represented by the jar of shells and the bundle of roses which is one of the two national flowers. White roses were also chosen for their meaning of purity and reverence. We should honor Bothams life just as he respected and honored those around him. The flowers are in a bouquet in reference to the community which Botham created around himself. The bible is the central piece to this still life because of how important Botham’s religion and church were to him. It also pays homage to Harding as a Christian university and a very important 4 years of Botham’s life. When Botham died, he had a copy of the Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis on his bedside table. The additional anonymous book in the image acknowledges his active learning and self-improvement. The wooden toy - known as a tower of hanoi - is an old mathematical game. It symbolises Botham’s technical skills and the career that he was building for himself. The game features 3 rods which symbolizes the 3 Jean children with all of the disks placed in the center because Botham was the middle child. Finally, the ice cream scoop references Botham’s favorite treat which he was eating when he was killed. His sister Allisa states that he loved anything and everything with milk - so much so that his family sometimes called him “milky way”.
Sources and Further Reading
On Bo and what happened:
Trevor Noah video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nDkI2DRywY
Includes useful timeline of events: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/botham-jean-a-story-of-tragedy-and-legacy/228465/
Written by Bo’s sister: https://medium.com/the-crisis-magazine/my-brother-botham-jean-8eaddbcc7507
Alexis Stossel’s Testimony (recommended watch!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9FAQGX8VWU
Brandt Jean on the stand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWUaV4L9QAY
Other: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/amber-guyger-trial-verdict-botham-jean.html
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/03/us/brandt-jean-botham-law-enforcement-award/index.html
Petitions:
To rename the Harding University auditorium: http://chng.it/zLG9btRhZC
Where the proceeds from this image will go:
https://bothamjeanfoundation.org - The Botham Jean Foundation provides scholarships to local students, funding for children and adolescent social services in St. Lucia and it also helps with immigrants facing the transition to America