(Photo Courtesy of Kemar Jewel)
O’Shae Sibley, the 28-year-old professional dancer and choreographer who was stabbed to death last July 29 at a Brooklyn gas station, was laid to rest at Fernwood Cemetery in his hometown of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.
Hundreds of people attended his funeral service at The Met on Tuesday. Friends, family, townspeople, and the queer community gathered at Philadelphia’s Metropolitan Opera House during Sibley’s wake and funeral dubbed “The Grand Finale of O’Shae Leon ‘Sage’ Sibley.”
Tributes and speeches during the service poured. Philadanco! (Philadelphia School of Dance Arts), the dance company where Sibley trained, performed a dance in his memory.
O’Shae Sibley was 14 when he earned a scholarship at Philadanco! He trained with them until he was around 22 or 23, Joan Myers Brown, founder of Philadanco! said.
Philadanco! had since then created a scholarship in Sibley’s name, organizing a dancer’s memorial fund thru GoFundMe. Their statement reads:
Hello, this is PHILADANCO! We are creating a dancers memorial fund for a beloved member of our Philadanco family, Oshae Sibley. This fund will support his family in the future where needed. His life with Philadanco was important to all of us. We want to ensure that he is never forgotten.
A4A Blog readers who wish to help may do so here.
Sibley, who moved to New York from Philadelphia danced with the extension program at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He was preparing to audition for The Lion King this year, it was one of his favorite Broadway musicals, said New York Times.
Mr. Sibley was with four other friends when the incident occurred. Their group was on the way home from a trip to the Jersey Shore when they stopped at the Mobil gas station at 1921 Coney Island Ave.
As they waited for their vehicle to get refueled, Sibley and his friends—who were simply laughing, talking, vogueing, and dancing to Beyoncé’s album Renaissance, which was playing from their car—were confronted by another group of men. The latter yelled homophobic slurs and anti-Black statements at Sibley and his friends, demanding that they stop dancing.
According to the court records obtained by the New York Daily News, the teen suspect allegedly said: “Stop dancing here… we are Muslim. Get that gay s*** out of here.”
The confrontation ended with Sibley being fatally stabbed in the heart. He was specifically stabbed on the left side of his ribcage, “piercing his chest and damaging his heart.”
Police had since then arrested a 17-year-old high school student named Dmitriy Popov in connection with the killing of O’Shae Sibley. Reportedly, the suspect was “arraigned in Brooklyn criminal court on second-degree murder, second-degree murder as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.” He is also being held without bail.
Meanwhile, New York Times reported that the teen’s lawyer Mark Henry Pollard, said of his client during a phone interview: “He’s Christian.” He added, “Somehow, they got it confused, he’s not a Muslim. I could understand if there were other friends that were, but he was the only person arrested.”
Further, New York Times said that a witness named Summy Ullah, a 32-year-old gas station attendant, tried to chase down the attacker, right after Mr. Sibley was stabbed.
Mr. Ullah, an immigrant from Pakistan, was a Muslim himself. “When I saw them dancing, I was laughing too, but I wasn’t making fun of them. Everyone has their own perspective, gay, transgender. We have gay people in our countries as well. You don’t make fun of them. They don’t say anything to you. They aren’t making fun of you.” Read the article in full here.
The murder of Mr. Sibley highlighted vogueing as well as the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes.
A statement released by GLAAD said the stabbing incident follows a “disturbing rise in violence and harassment against LGBTQ+ people across the US.” The LGBTQ+ organization further added, “No one should have to fear for their safety just for being themselves.”
Rest in Power O’Shae Sibley.
We still get killed…regardless, of Time & Place.
Our acceptance remains “[Un]-Universal” and this latest incident is a poignant reminder that not
everyone likes us or loves us.
“He now belongs to the Ages” as Lincoln’s doctor uttered the moment Lincoln died. He is at peace
and rests well.
Let us always remember: “Nothing is ever guaranteed – except – death”.
Hate is universal. Certain members of “The Community”, no surprise, will claim LGTBQ+ individuals lead the pack when it comes to suffering hate, violence, and murder. Sadly, Blacks, Asians, Indigenous peoples, women, children, and others are just as affected. At the same time, certain members of “The Community” express massive hate toward people who are Straight, religious (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and others), Conservatives, Whites, Communist and even other individuals who are LGTBQ+
As it is said, be careful who you point a finger at; there are three fingers pointed back at you..
None of those religions would claim fellowship with the Muslim faith..see Muslims with capital M follow all the rules not to be a lowercase muslim..they have an extra prophet to testify for them..and they have the unique bonus of no Muslim stays in hell…funny the gas attendants name is like sunni “sunny”(they are the muslims that take their scripture metaphorically ) and Ullah (Allah?)the man covered his Musillitis with a bogus name that fits the persona he is using..he probably is the one that taught the 17yr old..cause its ok for Muslims to do whatever to non Muslims and better… Read more »
Actually, Christian and Muslim leaders met in 2022. Popes have had ongoing dialogues with Muslim leaders. Other Christian and Muslim leaders met in 2021 about converting each others’ members. A Christian leader and Muslim leader met in 2019. Jewish Rabbis and Muslim Sheikhs have met repeatedly. Latin American Jews and Muslims met just last month. There are many more examples, fortunately!
It’s always wise to do some research (Google is your friend) before making an argument, especially one that perpetuates a hatred that is false.
I say let’s get rid of all religion. Would solve so many of our problems
Most religions are fine … until Man gets involved. Then they all go to hell in a handbasket.
Turnaround is fair play!
What you sow is what you reap!
He who laughs last, laughs best!
Any eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth!
Then we all need to help those who are supportive of those who are LGTBQ+ shine … especially those who are Straight, religious (Christian, Jewish … yes even some Muslims who are afraid to speak, and others), Conservatives, Whites … even some Communists who are afraid to speak. Not all individuals in these groups are haters. They need support from “The ” Community. ” “The Community”, as echoed by some of its members who post on A4A, should be the leader, the poster child, for anti-hate. Certain members of “The Community” dive right in and hate people because of their… Read more »
Actually, it was not Abraham Lincoln’s physician that uttered those words, it was Edwin Stanton, secretary of war. What he said was, ‘Now he belongs to the angels.’ Myth makers have turned that into ‘now he belongs to the ages.’
Touché! Toucher! Touché!
A much deserved, brow-beating!
How could “Morpheus” be so ignorant of The Gospel
truth?
Thank God for “Google” or “Wikipedia”?
Very sad and tragic. Shows that hate is still here, especially from religious groups and some communities.
Hate is Omnipresent…regardless of nature. Humans hate; other creatures do not.
Actually, cats hate. They’re the #1 killer of birds…and they don’t even eat them much of the time. Just “thrill kills”(i.e. Hate)
I wasn’t there and neither was the author of this article. I did see part of a video that was on the news showing Sibley running after somebody that was previously involved in the confrontation and then out of view. Why was Sibley running after somebody who was leaving the scene? Running after somebody who is leaving a confrontation seems to me like an incredibly dumb thing to do. I wonder how much Sibly contributed to his own death?
He was a 29 year old grown man that decided to chase after a smaller teenager. The kid didn’t feel like getting beat, possibly to death, by him and his crew. The attacker got stuck in the ribs and his homies backed the f**k off and the rest was history. Live by the Street and die the same way
This is one of the most confusing statements I’ve read here. The “crew” were people stopping at a gas station after returning from enjoying the beach and decided to dance around which wasn’t harming anyone. That teenager was the only one with a weapon who pulled that out first. That “smaller” teenager should have kept his hate to himself. But of course, blame the victim because he was tired of racial and homophobic slurs coming at him and his group. This incident wasn’t two street gangs in conflict. This was racial and sexual hate that ended in two lives destroyed.… Read more »
This is an unfortunate situation where difference of opinion leads to the death of another. This was simply a group of people opposed to other people’s ability to be happy. No one was harming anyone until someone decided to spew hate. Any person that wants to hide behind religion to cause hate is a coward. Some people say that O’Shae contributed to his death because he was walking toward the conflict. From actual witnesses, he was trying to broker peace. But let us say he wasn’t. How many black, Asians, Latinos, gays have died just because they existed. There is… Read more »
I could not follow the last comment. But for the most part, all I see is friends were enjoying life, hurting nobody. If the music was too loud, someone could have asked them to turn it down. But for someone to be that angry about dancing is a huge problem. There was a line in a movie about a person having a right to shake his ass, no matter how conservative people may be. And even the song popular among the bigoted Confederates,contained the perfect solution: “Look away!” For someone to be so offended by joy and sexuality in the… Read more »
Not to blame the victim…but sometimes I see the younger gays walking around and living as though straight people are all evolved and tolerant? we are NOT free; hate is still very much a part of our lives.
I’m so sorry to hear this story, I guess “Vogueing at a gas station in a Brooklyn neighborhood can get you killed”? Maybe if Sibley had just called it a night got in the car and gone home, he would be alive today?
RIP Young man.
The title of this article needs to be corrected from ‘killed’, to the correct term ‘murdered’. Sibley was not ‘killed’ by accident, He was MURDERED by a knife stab to his heart. A deliberate avoidable act. We need to call these individuals what they are . . MURDERS!
Yeah, I hate when they do that, too, it was murder, a hate murder at that. Call this, exactly what it is.
In your apparent haste and anger you you confuse the definition of the generic term “killed” with the more specific term “murdered”. For what is known at this time, regardless of the manner of death, the title of the article is worded correctly. Yes, it was avoidable. If I had walked up to you and said some mean and distasteful things to you and then I walked away do you think you would have the legal right to run after me and escalate the situation? The fact of the matter is the answer is NO. Once somebody withdraws from the… Read more »
Sibley chose poorly? Seriously? If Sibley did confront him what was going to happen? Was he going to hurt him with his unique dance skills as a weapon? He had no weapon, but the murderer did a knife. Seems to me that the killer could have easily chosen to keep walking away if that was what he really was doing instead of pulling a knife and stabbing O’Shea in the heart. But then again who provoked this? The hate-spewing people in the first place. We don’t know what else was said but from those who actually knew O’Shea from Philadelphia,… Read more »
You do have point, but Sibley wasn’t armed, either, he should have walked away. It’s an unjustified homicide with a knife, yes. But sometimes they do call murders “killings.”
I won’t attempt to do the court’s job and say whether the death was justified or not. Just because somebody is unarmed, however, doesn’t mean they are incapable of causing bodily harm or death to another person. Case files show many instances of such occurrences where no other weapon was involved other than hands or feet.
Dude, drawing the line here, focus, on this case only; “HE was not armed,” he more than likely, was just shooting off his mouth, ‘not’ physically engaging, but we can’t try the case here, yo, all the facts are just not apparent at this time.
That’s right. The fact is we here simply don’t know what happened off camera nor all the details of what happened on camera. Clearly, we don’t like the immediate end result of what happened nor what we know of what happened prior to the apparent stabbing. As a side note, if you’ll forgive this one last loss of focus, this is somewhat reminiscent of the public reaction to the Jussie Smollet thing where people flew off the handle without knowing the facts. Now, I know that’s just part of human nature to form one’s own conclusions before all the facts… Read more »
The definition of murder includes the term “premeditated” which means it was planned in advance. Unless, the prosecution can prove the 17 year old specifically set out to kill Sibley or “the next faggot shirtless Black dancer I encounter”, this was not a murder in the legal sense. It was a killing, The Prosecution will for sure be able to prove the killing. Proving murder is more involved. The Prosecution would need to prove the 17 year old intended to kill Sibley or “someone like him” prior to them meeting that fateful night.
Either way, someone is dead.
This is so sad and completely unnecessary. How many more?
I think it’s really sick, two “minority groups” why, would one, hatefully, oppress the other, not seeing, realizing their commonality? We’re all, in the same boat! “I didn’t stand for the blk, because I’m not blk. I didn’t stand for the gay, because I’m not gay. I didn’t stand for the lesbian, because I’m not lesbian. I didn’t stand for the Indian, because I’m not Indian. I did not stand for the Jew, because I’m not a Jew. . . I didn’t stand for Muslim, because I’m not a Muslim.” When they come for you, who will stand for you,… Read more »
You have to teach a child to hate, it’s a taught value, it’s not an instinctive one.
With two families now destroyed, perhaps the Popov family should have withheld that from Dmitriy’s life lessons.
Things like this will never end until we truly value human life, especially the life of those we find different then our own.
Outstanding response!!!! One of the best I ever read on here. So true. Hate indeed is taught. Two families destroyed and human life is so valuable! I wanted to see how many guys on here would respond to this story before I respond. Not bad, but over 100 guys on here responded to the recent blog question about anal sex. Black (All) Lives do Matters. Still heart broken