Remembering Quamari

I only knew Quamari for one year at Capital City Academy. I taught him both Geography and History while he was in Year 8, meaning his class was the one I saw the most throughout the year.

He quickly cemented himself as the class joker with a fascinating grasp of impersonations and accents and was always able to come up with a quick-witted response to questions from his friends and had a cheeky, toothy grin ready whenever you met him in the school corridors.

Quamari was one of those children who shone most brightly in my year at CCA with his infectious grin, his oft put-on faux-Caribbean accent, his willingness to be the clown to make everyone laugh.

Apart from those, I always remembered him most for his participation in the dance routines with the rest of his group when they performed in front of the rest of the school. He was the smallest and most enthusiastic of all of them in his slightly-too-big baseball cap.

My final abiding memory of him was in the final assembly of the year. The lower school was all brought together for one last assembly. Once the speeches and presentations were over and groups including Quamari’s had performed, a surprise guest appeared with his band. I have never seen such raw and complete shock on the faces of so many pupils when one of their favourite artists strides into the hall and starts singing right in front of them. The roar of delight was palpable and many soon began singing along. Yet Quamari was the first to jump up and dance his way from the edge of the hall towards the centre of the room.

Even now I can remember thinking that it was one of the rawest examples of pure joy I had ever seen. This boy lived to dance, to revel in the music to enjoy that moment to the fullest. Because of course, why wouldn’t he? For those long seconds he was there, dancing alone to that music and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Other pupils soon joined him and that spell was quickly broken, but Quamari had been the first to show them what was possible. That’s how I remember him, the boy who showed his friends that such total and complete joy could be expressed without holding anything back, showing others they could feel that joy too.

And to spread a sliver of that joy just a little further, here is the artist and the song that brought such happiness to Quamari that day back in 2014. Take a listen and imagine a grinning boy with a cheeky smile and a slightly-too-big baseball cap dancing enthusiastically. Others will remember him more clearly and know him better than I did, but this is how I will remember him.