I Can’t Breathe, Eric Garner

This quilt serves as a memorial to Eric Garner who was killed by police in New York City in 2014. Garner’s death by an illegal chokehold was filmed by an eyewitness named Ramsey Orta. Orta’s video sparked outrage across the country and made Garner’s final words, “I can’t breathe,” a rallying cry against police brutality and the excessive use of force against unarmed Black men. Maureen Kelleher designed the quilt and invited Orta and Kenny “Zulu” Whitmore, a former Black Panther and member of the Project in Angola, to contribute patches to it. Orta’s signature appears on the patch he created; Zulu’s reads: “Respect existence or expect resistance. I can’t breathe.”

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