This Mother’s Day, Harlem is missing a very beloved mama.
On April 22, “Momma Zee,” the neighborhood’s pet name for Excenia Mette, was killed trying to protect her grandson, Jarian Jordan Jr. Hearing gunshots from a nearby shoot-out, Momma Zee ran outside to make sure that Jarian was not in harm’s way — only to be struck by a fatal bullet.
Such maternal care was one of this local legend’s defining characteristics, and something she bestowed on her whole community. This included inspiring others: She was the first black woman to open a NYC bodega back in the 1980s. “That’s the person that she is,” said mourner Makeba Reece. “She died doing what she does: loving and protecting.”
But even a super mama can’t protect loved ones from peril without the criminal justice system backing her up.
Momma Zee might still be alive if New York’s laws didn’t make it uniquely difficult to protect the community from dangerous criminals.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post
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Hannah E. Meyers is a fellow and director of policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute.
Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images
