When Jarell Seay was about 8 years old, his mother, Cheryl, noticed he wasn’t wearing the Scooby Doo watch he’d received for his birthday.
Jarell had a friend whose parents were struggling with addiction and couldn’t provide the things he had, so Jarell did something about it.
“He said, ‘He didn’t have anything, so I gave it to him,’” Cheryl said. “That’s just the kind of person he was.”
His his giving nature wasn’t the first thing people noticed about him, though.
Jarell had a hereditary skin condition called vitiligo that causes uneven pigmentation. He was bullied a lot because of it, but he managed to win people over through his humor — Cheryl said he was something of a class clown type who made everybody laugh — as well as his kindness.
“What drew people to him is they could see the kindness in his heart beyond physical appearance,” Cheryl said. “Even though he had vitiligo and it bothered him, he didn’t allow it to take away from who he was as a person. After time went on, people who knew him loved him because they knew how he was deep down inside.”
Jarell was born June 2, 1992 in Philadelphia to Cheryl and Joey Seay and grew up in West Philadelphia. Their house was the gathering place for neighborhood kids. Treats were always available, and activities like Bible study and book club meetings were regular occurrences.
Cheryl and Joel showed Jarell and their eldest son Joel, who is three years older, the world beyond their neighborhood. They took them to museums as well as plays in New York City. Every year for about 10 years, they’d take their sons and some of their friends to Disney World over Christmas break.
The Seays also taught their children about generosity. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, they became inspired to come to the aid of people in their own community. They held an annual holiday toy and coat drive for those living in homeless shelters in West Philly. Following that, they organized an annual back-to-school block party, in which children in the neighborhood would receive backpacks and school supplies.
While Jarell had a happy home life, school was a different story. Not only was he bullied, he had a different learning style. In fourth grade, he was held back.
“It crushed him,” Cheryl said. “His fifth grade teacher said he should have never been held back.”
The Seays filed a suit against the school district claiming it didn’t do enough to accommodate his educational needs. The settlement they received a few years later allowed him to enroll in Wyncote Academy for high school, where he excelled.
Being held back had a butterfly effect. It had an influence on who he knew in school, Cheryl said, and at least one of his classmates — who were part of the group of kids the Seays welcomed into their home — was implicated in his murder.
On Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011, Jarell answered a knock on his front door and he was shot and killed in front of his father. He was 18 years old and six weeks away from high school graduation.
Cheryl explained that Jarell was the mistaken target of a dispute between two rival groups in the neighborhood consisting of kids he knew from school. In 2014, one person was convicted of first degree murder in connection with Jarell’s death.
After they lost Jarell, the Seays launched the Jarell Christopher Seay Love and Laughter Foundation and have not only continued but greatly expanded their service to the community in their son’s memory. They’ve added a crime prevention and gun safety component as a way to promote peace.
The logo for the foundation is an image of Jarell’s smiling face and filled with symbols of things that mattered to him: a snow shovel because he shoveled for neighbors during winter; a barber’s pole because he always had to have a fresh haircut; a Ralph Lauren Polo logo because he loved the clothing brand; as well as musical notes, a basketball and hoop and boxing gloves.
Cheryl said Jarell would have been so proud to see the good that his family is doing in the community in his name.
“Our motto for the foundation is, ‘Let love be the power that moves you,’” Cheryl said. “When you love someone, you want to see them grow and be great, and that was Jarell was to us. That’s why we call it the Love and Laughter Foundation, because that’s what he gave us, and that’s what I want people to remember.”
