Berkeley skate park renamed to honor Terrence McCrary Jr.
Terrence McCrary Jr. was an innocent bystander who had no connection to the violence that took his life in August 2016. He was just 22.
The local skate park was renamed over the weekend to honor Terrence McCrary Jr., a young man from Berkeley who was killed in a shooting at an Uptown Oakland art gallery nearly a decade ago.
Terrence was an innocent bystander who had no connection to the violence that broke out that night in August 2016.
He was just 22 years old.
He and 20-year-old Craig Fletcher-Cooks, both Berkeley High grads, lost their lives.
Terrence grew up in Berkeley, attending Berkeley schools throughout his life, including Berkeley City College.
He worked at 510 Skate Shop on Telegraph Avenue and was a youth mentor and counselor with the city's recreation department.
He loved art, fashion and, most of all, skateboarding.
For years, McCrary's family has been pushing the city to rename the Berkeley skate park in his honor to keep Terrence's legacy and memory alive.
In December, the Berkeley City Council unanimously approved the proposal.
On Saturday, local officials, including Alameda County DA Ursula Jones Dickson and Berkeley Councilwoman Rashi Kesarwani, joined Terrence's family and friends to unveil the new name, the Terrence McCrary Jr. Memorial Skate Park, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The event, which was at times jubilant and at times somber, made one thing clear.
"Nobody here has forgotten him. Nobody here is gonna forget him," close friend Thai Hill said. "This skate park brought so many people together, and Terrence poured so much into this place.… It is only right that it reflects that on him and uplifts him every time people walk through that fence."
Note: A transcript of the video appears below.
Florence McCrary: All of you who have been our community since the night you got that call, on Aug. 14, 2016, to today, we're just so grateful. Our hearts are full. We couldn't ask for a better community of love.
We learned a lot about him after he passed, that he had a heart for people, that he cared about the community. And this was his refuge.
Bishop K.R. Woods, Covenant Church: This is sanctuary. This is community. And it's all come together because of Terrence.
Jim Thiebaud: Spaces like this give the youths a place where they belong. And to someone like Terrence, it, it gave him a home away from home.
He was the kind of person who could go into all sorts of different groups of people and make them feel included and happy and safe. And and I think that he influenced a whole lot of the youth in this area.
Thai Hill: This skate park brought so many people together, and Terrence poured so much into this place and into the people that he touched, that he knew — that it is only right, that it reflects that on him and uplifts him every time people walk through that fence.
Florence McCrary: That night, he saved the life of his friend. And we'll remember that forever as his legacy.
And this park, after we close our eyes, will be his legacy.
Rashi Kesarwani: He was a Berkeley kid. He went to Berkeley public schools, Berkeley City College. I'm told he worked at [510 Skate Shop] on Telegraph Avenue.
And Terrence also worked at this skate park as a counselor-in-training with the city's recreation division.
Thai Hill: There will never be another like him. And for all of us that know him, we're thankful. For as much as we miss him. For as much as we wish that he was still here, I know that we're all thankful for what he showed us and the time we have together and how we get to carry that through our lives day to day.
I'm so thankful that the skate park is named after him, as it should be. This has been Terrence McCrary Skate Park from the moment that he left us in the physical form. So it's only right that this matches it.
Ursula Jones Dickson: This park is legacy. This is what it looks like when we lose folks in our community. We need to know that crime against young Black men doesn't die there. We build this, we build in our community.
And for me, I've watched Ms. Florence walk this. This is a rough road. But I've watched her walk it with grace and dignity and strength. The least we can do is build with her.
Marvin Buckley: The kids loved him. And, no shade on all the junior leaders they ever had at Live Oak [Park] for 39 years, Terrence was the best one. He was the best one. And he was a great role model for the smaller kids.
Jim Thiebaud: I mean, to lose someone like Terrence to something completely senseless where he was an innocent victim of gun violence, it's just unfathomable and it changes lives forever.
Marvin Buckley: (singing) " A one in a million chance of a lifetime. In life, showed compassion."
Danny Cole: So I'm gonna say this as if I was speaking to Terrence himself.
"Terrence, it's hard to put into words. I miss the smiles. I miss hearing you laugh. Ripping jokes on our friends. Talking about fashion, skateboarding, life in general. It's a beautiful thing. Seeing your name permanently graced on this park we grew up skating.
Thai Hill: Nobody here has forgotten him. Nobody here is gonna forget him.
Florence McCrary: I can't turn back the hands of time. I can't change it. I can't take the bullet, go in his place.
So it is the reality of having to deal with that trauma. But we are living and we are doing this in honor of him to just try to speak life after such a traumatic and horrific experience.
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Emilie Raguso
Emilie Raguso
