Andrew
Joseph Jr.
Rapid Response Coordinator · Black Lives Matter Grassroots
“We’ve been boots on the ground since day one.”
He had the only credential that matters in this work. He knew.— Black Lives Matter Grassroots
Rest Well,
Champion.
The first thing you need to know about Andrew Joseph Jr. is that he had already done enough. Two decades in classrooms and juvenile justice courtrooms across southern Louisiana. A family raised. A hurricane survived. The kind of life of service that most people, by any measure, would call a career.
And then, on February 7, 2014, the system he had spent his life fighting against killed his only son.
Andrew Joseph III was fourteen years old. He had gone to Student Day at the Florida State Fair with friends. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office decided that night to eject nearly 100 children from the fairgrounds. AJ III was one of them. He was detained without cause, transported away from where his ride was waiting, abandoned near Interstate 4, and — according to the family’s federal case — directed by a deputy to cross that highway to get home. He was struck and killed by an SUV. No one ever called his parents.
Most people would have broken. Andrew Joseph Jr. did not break. He and his wife Deanna built something instead, and they invited a movement in to build it with them.
He was raised in New Orleans, shaped by the family, faith, and traditions of southern Louisiana, and built the foundation of his life’s work at Grambling State University, where he earned both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in Criminal Justice. Long before the world would learn his name, he was already in classrooms and courtrooms doing the kind of work that rarely makes the news: walking alongside adjudicated young people, mentoring children others had given up on.
When Hurricane Katrina forced his family from New Orleans in 2005, he carried that calling to Tampa. He did not start over; he expanded.
The Verdict.
After more than six years of litigation, the Joseph family’s federal civil rights case went to trial in Tampa. On the witness stand, Andrew said of his son, simply: “He was my best friend.”
On September 22, 2022, a 10-person federal jury found the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office 90% responsible for AJ III’s death.
$15MAwarded to the Joseph family by the federal jury.
“Today we got vindication. Today we cleared his name. It ain’t gonna never bring him back. But it’s gonna send a message wide across this world.”— Andrew Joseph Jr. After the federal jury verdict · September 22, 2022
Rapid Response,
the way he did it.
The title was bureaucratic. The work was not. Rapid response, the way Andrew did it, meant being on the next plane.
It meant getting to Gulfport, Mississippi, where the family of 15-year-old Jaheim McMillan was reeling from his October 2022 killing by Gulfport Police. It meant being in Minneapolis, in the Twin Cities, at the Justice Studio with the comrades.
It meant taking a bereaved mother’s hand at the press conference and not letting go. It meant calling her the next week, and the week after, and the week after that. It meant being the person on the other end of the phone for parents who had just joined the worst club in America and had not yet figured out the language to describe what had happened to them.
He could do this because he was already in the club. He had the only credential that matters in this work: he knew. And he had decided, somewhere along the way, that knowing was a responsibility — not just a wound.
Beloved Husband.
Devoted Father.
His love at home powered his service in the movement.
Andrew Joseph Jr. was a husband to Deanna — the woman who, by every account, walked every step of this fight beside him. He was a father to Andrew Joseph III, to Deja. He was a son of New Orleans, a son of Grambling, an uncle, a cousin, a friend, a mentor, a comrade.
He carried more grief than any one human being should ever have to carry, and he turned that grief into a shield for other people’s children. He turned a name into a movement. He turned a tragedy into a turning point — the very phrase his foundation uses to describe its own beginning.
He is preceded in death by his son and namesake, Andrew Joseph III, who he can now finally see again.
Defining
Moments.
Born & raised in southern Louisiana.
Shaped by the family, faith, and cultural traditions of his hometown.
Bachelor’s & Master’s in Criminal Justice.
Begins career interning with legal groups supporting youth and families in rural Louisiana.
Lead Assistant Principal, alternative learning environments.
Works with adjudicated youth across the southern Louisiana region. Earns recognition among educators and juvenile justice departments.
Hurricane Katrina forces the family to Tampa.
The Josephs settle in the Tampa Bay area. Andrew III begins playing youth football at Riverview Raiders Field in Brandon.
Andrew Joseph III, 14, is killed near the Florida State Fair.
AJ III and ~100 other minors are ejected by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies. He is detained, transported away from the main gate, and directed across Interstate 4 to reach his ride. He is struck and killed. His parents are never called.
The Andrew Joseph Foundation — “AJ Soars” — is born.
A 501(c)(3) dedicated to children’s rights, child safety, conflict resolution education, and family support. Out of grief, Andrew and Deanna build something.
Black Lives Matter Grassroots stands with the Joseph family.
Under the leadership of co-founder Dr. Melina Abdullah. The family begins standing with the movement right back.
Federal wrongful death lawsuit filed.
Against the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida State Fair Authority, and the Hillsborough County School District.
Florida State Fair safety reforms.
Minors under 17 must be accompanied by an adult 21+ after 6 p.m. Ejected minors held in supervised waiting area. Parents notified when minors are ejected. Additional cameras, deputies, and lighting.
Riverwalk paver unveiled.
The Andrew Joseph Foundation and the Restorative Justice Coalition unveil a granite paver on the Tampa Riverwalk honoring AJ III’s life.
Rapid Response Coordinator, Black Lives Matter Grassroots.
Travels nationally to be on-the-ground with families harmed by police violence. Speaks at Netroots Nation. Partners with the Love Not Blood Campaign.
Federal jury verdict — $15 million.
A 10-person federal jury finds HCSO 90% responsible for AJ III’s death and awards the family $15 million. Five days later, BLM Grassroots and 12 Justice families issue a national call to pass the Ending Qualified Immunity Act.
Ten years since AJ III’s death.
Family holds a candlelight vigil at the Partico Café in downtown Tampa. Andrew recommits: “We’ve been boots on the ground since day one.”
Andrew Joseph Jr. transitions.
Survived by his wife Deanna, his daughter Deja, and an extended movement family of comrades, Justice families, and chapter leaders across the country. Preceded in death by his son and namesake, Andrew Joseph III, whom he can now finally see again.
Carry the
Work Forward.
There are 26 chartered chapters globally. There are Justice families in every region. There are children who need what Andrew Joseph Jr. gave. The boots stay on the ground because he showed us how to keep them there.
Support the Andrew Joseph Foundation
Child safety. Conflict resolution. Family support. The 501(c)(3) Andrew and Deanna built out of their grief, so no other parent would get the call they got.
andrewjosephfoundation.com →Support BLM Grassroots
Sustain the rapid response work he gave his life to. The next family is going to need someone on the next flight.
blmgrassroots.org →End Qualified Immunity
Pass the Ending Qualified Immunity Act — the legal doctrine that shielded AJ III’s killers from accountability for nearly a decade. That fight is unfinished.
Demand accountability →