For Valerie Castile, every day is a tribute to her son Philando
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Valerie Castile lost her son 10 years ago Monday. Philando Castile was killed by a St. Anthony police officer in a traffic stop in Falcon Heights a few days before his 33rd birthday. A jury acquitted the officer, Jeronimo Yanez, of manslaughter the following year.
Since losing her son, Valerie has worked to honor his memory by speaking out about his killing and joining calls for accountability in policing. She has pushed for policy changes to make traffic stops safer for people of color, including guidelines in the state driver’s manual for licensed gun owners.
She has supported others who lost loved ones to gun violence and raised money to pay off school lunch debt as a tribute to her son, who was the cafeteria supervisor of a St. Paul elementary school.
Each year on July 6 and 7, Valerie’s family gather with community members for a candlelight vigil and barbecue to celebrate Philando’s life. The city of Falcon Heights recognizes the dates as Restoration Day and Unity Day, respectively.
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Valerie has a room in her home dedicated to other tributes to Philando: paintings, photographs and proclamations cover the walls. MPR News host Nina Moini talked with her there about how her life has changed and how she remembers her son now.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell me about the artwork you have that’s dedicated to Philando
Every piece was done with a lot of care and raw emotions, because it was so fresh. There was a lot of music, artwork, spoken word. Some of them were just mailed to my house. That creativity side came out of people because they didn't know what to do. The only way they could express themselves was through their artistry, whatever that looked like. I really appreciated that.
In my old house, the artwork was just around in the living room, but when I felt sad, I would go and just sit, and the artwork would just enter my spirit. So God told me to reach out to one of these larger museums. You know, “you need to share this. If it's helping you, then you know this will be a way for you to help the community heal the way the art is making you heal here at home.”
So I called the Minneapolis Institute of Art and explained to them how important this artwork was, and how soothing and healing it was. The curators came over, and when they came in the door, they stood there for a minute, and then they started to cry, and they were like, “this is so powerful.” They did an exhibition for about five weeks.
What does this 10-year mark mean for you?
It’s another milestone, just being able to survive. I say that because in 2016 the easiest thing I could have done was do nothing and just go on with my life.
I have a mission. I have a purpose that was given to me by God. This is not what I chose for the rest of my life. I’m a party girl, you know, I like to go places, I like to do things, but I got stuck because of all the things that are wrong within our communities and within our justice systems.
We can’t have that. This is not how God wanted us to coexist. We’re supposed to be better than that, but look what we do to one another.
Tell us about a few of the things that you are the most proud of
I’m proud of being able to speak with public safety and talk about the importance of gun ownership, and how that should be addressed. There should be some information about what should you do and what should you expect if you get pulled over by the police and you have a weapon in the car. So I was really proud that we got that small piece in the driver’s manual.
I am super, super proud of being involved with getting the free breakfast and lunch program signed [into law.] My son was doing advocacy work, and he didn’t even realize it. When he paid for those children’s meals out of his own pocket, that’s advocacy but he didn’t look at it like that.
He was looking at it as, as just the right thing to do. It wasn’t charity; it was out of dignity, out of love, and out of just being a human being, a concerned person.
I’m old enough to know that these situations happen, and so quickly we forget about these men, women and children that have been murdered. My thought was like, “Oh Lord, you know they’re gonna forget my son, a statistic.” So I try to replicate those things that were important to him, and that was family, community and those children that he served.
How do you think about your son throughout the day?
I think about my son all the time. He left such a gaping hole in my heart, because Philando and my daughter is 10 years apart. So it was he and I for 10 years. He was my friend, he was my companion, he was my buddy, he was my son and he kept me grounded.
I just love him for that. And he was always so helpful. He just has this spirit that encircles and engulfs my heart.
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