Julian
King would often take paper, crayons and other materials and make invitations
that he distributed to his family and friends. He would then ask his family for
a cake; his godmother would bake him one.
He called
it a “hatch day” party and in honor of his spirit of giving and fellowship, his
mother and aunt launched the special day in his memory.
The then
7-year-old was found in the trunk of a car Oct. 27, 2008 shot to death after
his grandmother and uncle had been slain days before at the family’s South Side
home.
King
would have been 10 years old on Aug. 14, the day sisters Julia and Jennifer
Hudson held the inaugural Hatch Day event at De La Salle Institute, 3434 S.
Michigan.
Hundreds
of kids filed into the school's gymnasium where they were greeted by oversized
photos of Julian fixed to easels, and treated to free backpacks school supplies,
Jennifer Hudson’s music playing in the background and, of course cupcakes.
The
Hudson sisters partnered with the Benton, Ark.-based retail giant Walmart to
make the event possible.
“What is
Hatch Day? We still don't know,” Jennifer Hudson told the Defender with a
chuckle. Still, “this is our way of giving him his Hatch Day.”
Though
they can't explain the boy's imaginary event, they are clear on the spirit of
what Julian was trying to do.
“Julian
was not your typical child,” his mother, Julia, said. “Julian was all about
education. His mouth literally would water when he was learning, and he loved
to teach.”
Julia
said her son helped to teach several of his relatives to read. She noted how
much of a stickler for learning her child was.
“He even
changed his bedtime one time to an hour earlier so he wouldn't be tired for
school,” Julia said.
His
desire to share was infectious.
“This is
just his character spilling out into the community,” Jennifer said of her
family's decision to host Hatch Day and give away school supplies.
“It's
very healing and helpful,” Jennifer said of working with the foundation. The
foundation is “definitely a healing tool.” She said big hearts and generosity
ran rampant in her family. Giving was what the Hudsons knew to do, Jennifer
said.
“My
brother would barbecue for the whole neighborhood. Me, I love, through my music
and what I do, to bring people around,” the Academy Award-winning actress said,
pointing out that her whole family “loves giving.”
Birthdays
and holidays are a bit easier to endure without their mother, brother and
Julian, both women agreed, because of the work they are able to do through
their Julian King Foundation.
“It's
times when it's like 'oh goodness their birthdays are coming up,'” Jennifer
said. “But ... we can look forward to them now ... and still celebrate them in
a positive way.
Hatch Day
and other works through the foundation help them not only honor the spirit of
their deceased loved ones, but to make them proud.
“My
mother always taught us that without family, you have nothing. That's the way
we get to make sure her memory lives on and that she's happy and pleased with
us knowing that we're still pushing on, we're still together,” said Jennifer,
now a mother herself.
Julia
shake's her head as she talks about the senseless gun violence that continues
to claim lives - especially children's.
“It's
sad. Something needs to happen. It has to be something that we can do to get to
these people to make them see this is senseless, this is stupid,” Julia said.
Julia
said after the killings she left. For a brief time she was in Florida, but she
longed for home --- Chicago.
“I left
(Florida). I said I have to go home because I felt that that would help my
healing process,” Julia said.
“What
brought us back is this is home,” Jennifer
She
explained that she wanted her son to have the same familial closeness she grew
up with because that has made all the difference in her life.
“That's
what keeps us going, our faith in God and the strength in our family,” Hudson
said.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
