Anthony: Thank you for meeting with us and taking the time to share your brother’s story and the work you are doing. So let’s start with your name and tell us about your brother Alex.
Roz: My name is Roz Pichardo and my brother Alex was murdered in January, of 2012. The case currently unsolved. He was walking with my nephew to the Chinese store to pick up some dinner when two guys approached him and attempted to take their stuff. My brother Alexander was shot when protecting my nephew.
Anthony: A lot of the Varones we interviewed knew your brother and have often shared stories about him. What can you tell us about Alex?
Roz: The day that he came out was the funniest thing ever because he was really anxious that day. He was like, “Mom and dad, we really have to talk about something serious.” And he is trying to gather everybody to the table, ya know. And we are laughing on the inside because we know what’s happening. And he says, “Uh, I’m gay.” My mom and everybody starts laughing. He says, “it’s not funny?” So we’re like, “Alex, your room is purple, sheer curtains, you have Britney Spears all over your room and you do our hair and make-up. So of course we know that you’re gay. We know this already.” So my Dad is laughing and then starts crying. He says, “It’s ok, we love you.” Ya know, it’s just one of those moments that we cannot relive. It was something special.
Alex was an outgoing person. He was very funny, just very creative. He loved to decorate, he loved to do make-up. He loved to hook me up because I wasn’t very talented at doing hair and make-up and matching clothes. He was a very, very proud gay man. He was known all around the community for just being an artist. They took my brother’s life and all that we have to remember him is his art work and the memories we have of Alex Martinez.
He did have anxiety issues. I think that just comes with so many different things that the LGBTQ community have to face. Wanting to be accepted and not being accepted. He was a people pleaser. When people didn’t accept him, he felt sad. Growing in the neighborhood we grew up in, who wouldn’t have some anxiety issues. It’s just the area that we lived in and the violence that surrounds us. As a family, we were still getting over the suicide of my sister. We all suffered a little bit but my brother the most, even though he suffered in silence because of his anxiety, he still a wonderful person and still tried to shed light to darkness.
Anthony: Tell about your work and what inspired you to start your project.
Roz: OPERATION SAVE OUR CITY started in 2012 after the murder of my brother. I probably should have started at when I was sixteen when I was a victim of attempted homicide but I didn’t. After my brother’s murder, there was so much pain, so much grief that if I didn’t find a way to channel that energy, I would be left like my twin sister. It was just that devastating to lose another sibling. So the only thing I felt I needed to do was to be a voice for Alex. To make sure that I can stand up against violence and I can show my Latino community that we don’t have to have the whole “no snitching” mentality and that we can just change that whole cycle. And just be the voice of our loved ones that are no longer here. That’s the only thing that I know that keeps me going. Every day when I wake up in the morning, the first thing I think of is my brother and justice. If I am working with another family, I am looking at that person’s face. We have #TeamMelanie, #TeamChecka, #TeamRJ, #TeamAlexanderRojas, it’s just so many and every, every other day, and it’s another face that I have to fight for justice for.
- Roz Pichardo, Philadelphia, PA
Interviewed by: Anthony Leon
Photographed by: Louie A. Ortiz-Fonseca
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