Micah Tennant always had a smile on his face and a determination beyond his years.“
His energy was incredible,” said Altarik Gatti Wright, who lovingly referred to him as “Lil Head.” “You could tell he was destined to be someone great in this world.”
But the little boy who dreamed of being a DJ had his life ended at 10, when what the prosecutor has called “petty vengeance” out of Atlantic City erupted in gunfire on the bleachers at the Pleasantville High School football field, where the fifth-grader was watching his cousin in the playoffs against Camden.
The funeral for “Dew” — as he was lovingly known — will be held 11 a.m. Saturday at New Shiloh Baptist Church. A repast is set for 2 to 7 p.m. at the Atlantic City Convention Center
While this will be a formal goodbye, many are determined to make sure that the violence that ended Dew’s life won’t silence his name.
The community has rallied around his grieving mother whose faith and strength are a source of inspiration for those around her.
From peace walks to shirts to songs and videos to a billboard, the outpouring has been large and heartfelt. There are even plans for a scholarship in his name.
“I never would have thought it in a million years that I’d live to see the day when you wasn’t here. You got the whole town sheddin’ tears…”
After his little cousin was killed, Keshaun “Keylo” Jones knew he had to find a way to honor him.
“He used to love to listen to my music when I use to rap,” Jones said.
Now a second-grade teacher in Atlanta, Jones decided to join with another cousin, Atlantic City Police Officer LaQuay Dubose, to honor Dew.
“I told him we have to do this for our family and the town,” Jones said. “Especially as positive role models from our city.”
"Crazy how the shooter that hit him is from his hood too Crazy how nobody tried telling him what he should do Knowing that there’s kids at that game Knowing that the bullets got no name on it…”
“Dew was an old man in a child’s body,” said Wright, who as Gatti800 recorded his own musical tribute to “Lil Head.”
“When I heard about the news, it really hit me hard not only because I know Dew but because I also got a son,” Wright told BreakingAC. “And me being an artist and having a voice, it was only right that I put those emotions in a song and let the community know that this is something that can’t just be swept under the rug. It’s senseless violence.”
"And he had so much pride,And he brings so much joyAnd for Angela I cry, cause that was her little boy..."
Shakur Hopewell's video pays homage to Dew and the unspeakable loss for his mother, Angela Tennant.
Music is how she remembers her son, often posting videos of him smiling, dancing and singing along perfectly to some of his favorite tunes.
"Thank you God for lending him to me for 10 years," she wrote in one post. "I just wish it could’ve been a lil longer!"
