Catrina Carey honors her son, Derrick Marks, by releasing his unfinished music on what would have been his 30th birthday.
Instead of hugging her son on his birthday, Catrina Carey will be releasing the music her son, Derrick Marks , never got the chance to finish. Derrick Marks , a Birmingham musician, was shot and killed on Feb. 25, 2020, at the age of 25. Carey will release her son’s music, a collaboration with another local artist and close friend of Marks, on Jan. 16, on what would have been his 30th birthday. “It’s a legacy.
Being a parent that has lost a child, you want their legacy to live on, but you also want other young men to continue their legacy while they’re alive,” Carey said. “When you’re actually working on something, it’s keeping his legacy alive, because when that music is out there, we can go to any platform and see his face and hear his voice, and that’s what it’s all about.” The shooting occurred mere minutes after he left home to try to get his mind off the stress of a recent death of a close friend. Carey pleaded with her son to stay home because he was so upset, but he thought it would help to get together with other friends to game on their PlayStations.Carey said she and other community members tried to steer Marks and his friends toward positive paths. “We even had ministers come out and talk to the young men about life. Even Derrick’s father came to that event and spoke to the young men about the violence and helping them do something positive to be out of the street,” Carey said. “We think it’s positive when you can go to a young man, and say, ‘you have so much talent. What can I do to help you?’” Leonard met Marks when they were only 17, when Integrity Bible Church would open up their gym for kids in the neighborhood to play basketball. “We used to go there after school sometimes and after, we would go over to each other’s house and hang out. We started becoming real close,” Leonard said as he laughed at the memories. “We love each other to death. We would go over there every day to Ms. Catrina’s house, play the game, hang out, spend the night over there. And it was one point in time that I stopped going home, I just stayed over there. It was my first home, my real home.” As young adults, Leonard and Marks started a music group with six other friends called My Brother’s Keeper. They all got MBK tattoos together in 2014. Derrick Marks' mother, Catrina Carey, put up a billboard to celebrate what would have been her son's 30th birthday. “It was like a brotherhood between us, a brotherly bond…It really meant a lot, how serious we took it, being loyal to each other,” Leonard said. “I want everyone to know that Derrick was a wonderful person, a real genuine person…He’s going to always put his friends and family first.” Leonard said growing up, Marks was like a brother to him. He still calls Carey mom. “Ms. Catrina, that’s really my mother. That’s my mom. I love her to death too. I really appreciate her. Every morning, she tells me good morning, she loves me. It’s small things like that let you know how much love she has for me,” Leonard said. He fondly remembers spending days in the studio with Marks. Leonard said finishing and releasing the song for Marks means a lot to him because a lot of the music they made together over the years has been lost. “This young man is still living. It would be good if we put this song out and he gets discovered, he gets offered the contracts that my son was being offered,” Carey said. Since losing her son, Carey has become a counselor and mentor to others who have lost a loved one to gun violence. “Remember the happy times…Think of the laughter, the memories you made. Your loved one would not want you to grieve and be sad all the time. It’s okay to move on with your life. They’re never forgotten,” Carey said. “Losing a loved one so violently and so premature taught me that every moment is special.Velinda Carey holds a photo of her brother, Derrick Marks, who was shot and killed Feb. 25, 2020, at the age of 25, hours after a friend was killed. Marks was a rapper and a singer. Amarr Croskey/The Birmingham Times.Carey recently helped her daughter, Velinda, move to a new home in Pensacola, Florida, which was one of her brother’s favorite places to visit. Velinda believes her son can live a safer life away from Birmingham. “My daughter chose to move out of the state because her son is graduating high school next year. He’s afraid to be in Birmingham after he graduates…She is so afraid for him to be here because of all of the killings,' Catrina Carey said. On New Year’s Eve, the mother and daughter met in Pensacola, where they scattered Marks’ ashes, to release balloons in his honor. Carey said she hopes she can help other young men get the opportunities her son did not get the chance to
Community Music Legacy Gun Violence Community Birmingham Derrick Marks Catrina Carey My Brother's Keeper
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