Enter the Babylon System

INTRODUCTION The cops don't know where the killer came from, or where it's gone since. Maybe it sits at the bottom of some river running beneath a bridge, or perhaps police will find it only after it has killed again. All we know is that it found its way into the hands of a young man with a calloused heart and a fragile ego, that in one moment, a flash really, that young man used it to take from this world forever a son, a brother, a mentor and a best friend. A soulmate. On December 13, 2003, Clayton Kempton Howard was shot once in the head outside the Toronto apartment he shared with his mother, Joan, and younger brother, Kareem. He died instantly, at the age of twenty-four. Kempton Howard was a lover of hip-hop. For those within the culture, hip-hop is much more than just music. It is a way of life, the practice of being yourself. And in so many ways, Kempton's self projected greatness. Taiwo Bah can tell you. He is that soulmate. "I've never known anyone that's into music as much as he was," Tai said. "For him, it's a life, it's a whole culture to it. He embodied hip-hop." When we first met Taiwo face to face in the summer of 2004, it was at Joan Howard's new house. The city had assisted in an expeditious move to a nice townhouse at the end of a tree-lined street. We got the feeling that Joan and Kareem weren't yet at home there. Taiwo had been staying with them to ease the transition. As we sat at the kitchen table, sunlight pouring in around still-drawn blinds, Kempton's blank dog-tags dangled from Taiwo's neck. It was a late mid-week morning, and Joan and Kareem were resting upstairs. Sleep hadn't come easily to them of late. Taiwo had already been approached by a slew of reporters seeking quotes for stories on Kempton's killing. Our conversation was different. As he said, we're his people. You'd never know it from the stories that followed his death, but Kempton's life exemplified our culture. "I mean, deejaying, emceeing, breakdancing and graffitihe had it all," Taiwo said. "He was hip-hop. He was loyal to the music from day one." Another point that Taiwo emphasized: Kempton's homeboys call himKemp'n. They also both worked with children in their community. "He's like the MVP of the Boys and Girls Club staff," explained Taiwo. "'Cause he's worked at three different Boys and Girls Clubs in this city." In 2001 Kempton started the Torch Club, a group for nine- to thirteen-year-olds at Eastview Community Centre, in his and Taiwo's Blake-Boultbee neighbourhood in Toronto's east end. The program revolved around a handful of core principles: leadership development, education and career exploration, volunteering in the community, social recreation, lifestyle and fitness. In practice it meant fundraising, braving the winter cold to break ice off the community centre's stairs, learning about hygiene, and summer games of football wherever an open field could be found. "Most times his team would beat my team," said Tai. "It was fun, man!" Contrary to some people's preconceptions about a young black man rocking a black do-rag with an Atlanta Falcons jersey, Kempton Howard just tried to do the right thing. As a result, his murder drew significant attention from the city's major media and, by extension, politicians. A lengthy piece in theToronto Star, a moment of silence at City Hall and mention of his name in the House of Commonshis killing didn't pass as "Homicide 61/2003," just another number in poliBascunan, Rodrigo is the author of 'Enter the Babylon System', published 2007 under ISBN 9780679313885 and ISBN 0679313885.