Community members gathered at Lake Washington Park on Saturday to celebrate Elijah Lewis Day on what would have been his 24th Birthday. Family, friends, and community leaders hosted a lantern ceremony to honor Lewis, who was tragically murdered in April while defending his nephew.

“We’re here to honor, uplift, and celebrate everything he did for our community,” Converge host Trae Holiday said. “So many felt his passion for Black liberation movements and for this community.”

Jenine Lewis, Elijah’s mother, said that his passion for community truly came from the heart and he was a genuine leader who cared for so many. She was honored and inspired by the celebration of the day.

“It wasn’t work for him - it was just natural. It was who he was,” Lewis’s mother Jenine said. “We’re doing this together. He was a community builder and activist, but he was also a business owner and an uncle and a son.”

The crowd was a mix of people from all over Seattle, but one thing they had in common was the feeling that their lives were made better by Lewis. Tha Def Chef Jimaine Miller said that he’s seen an outpouring of tributes from people who had their lives touched in ways that went beyond Lewis’s typical work.

“He’s about as real as you can get. The resume speaks for itself, but there’s also a bunch of stuff you don’t know. If we sat around and told stories we’d be here all day,” Miller said. “I don’t know how he found the time to do what he did.”

It was also a birthday celebration for Lewis, who had been looking forward to turning 24. There was a cake and friends of Lewis reflected on what it meant.

“One of the last conversations I had with him was about this birthday,” Friend Edd Hampton said. “He was like ‘are you coming to my birthday this year? 24 has a big meaning to me’ and I was like ‘be at your birthday? I’ll throw you your birthday’. This was going to be our year. I had to make sure we still threw him a birthday.”

You can see more in the video.

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