🕊️ Update: A Bigger Mission in Shawn’s Name

First, I want to say thank you to everyone who has signed and shared this petition so far. Your support is everything. The truth is, some people have told me I might never get a federal investigation into my son’s death—especially being a Black mother trying to challenge systems that weren’t built for us.

But I believe in something bigger.

If enough people stand with me, maybe we can do more than just uncover the truth about what happened to Shawn. Maybe we can make sure this never happens again.

I want to push for the creation of a new generation of mental health and job development programs in Shawn’s name—programs that help struggling young men of all races, especially those with mental health challenges, become leaders, role models, and mentors for the ones coming behind them.

These programs should:

Offer counseling, life coaching, and peer mentorship

Include training in emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and healing

Create paid peer leadership opportunities where young men can act as “big brothers” to incoming students

Help participants build confidence, purpose, and support networks

And it can’t stop there. I want to see:

School systems adopt real-life courses like:

Financial literacy

Taxes and budgeting

Healthy relationships

Basic legal rights

Nutrition, wellness, and mental health check-ins

Career path planning and entrepreneurship

These should be core curriculum, not electives.

We must prepare our kids for independence, responsibility, and adult life early—before the world tries to take them.

These are the kinds of resources that cut the pipeline to prisons, addiction, and early death. These are the kinds of resources our youth need instead of being handed pills, paperwork, or punishment.

The LGBTQ+ curriculum gets dedicated time in schools—so why don’t mental health, life skills, and survival as a young adult get the same space?

We’re not just demanding answers for what happened to Shawn. We’re fighting for the future of every student like him. And the more signatures we get, the harder it becomes for them to ignore this movement.

Please keep sharing this petition. Let’s build something beautiful out of something painful. Let’s create systems that raise our sons, not bury them.

Justice for Shawn. Resources for our youth. Change for our communities.

With love and fire,

— Trishawnna Dandridge