Pouring water upon the Earth in memory of one of my oldest friends and newest ancestors — Jureko Crawford — who we all knew and loved as Rico or Zeek.
Zeeky Zeek was an original; a one and only — break the mold because there won’t be another — type of person. We knew each other since we grew out of diapers and started roaming the east side neighborhood where we grew up in Detroit, less than two blocks apart.
Zeek was the nephew of my best friend, Tono, who passed in 2020 — and was a good friend of my brother, David, for many years as kids.
Out of the five Baker boys, four of us were at one-point best friends with one of the Crawford boys. Robert and Dorn are still best friends; Ricardo and Donald was tight for awhile; Tono and I were best friends forever; and David and Zeek hung out tough for years growing up.
My youngest brother, Anthony, was cool with Googie — the still beautiful lady Samara — so he may have been the smartest one out of all of us. True story…
But as boys often do, we started off with a few fights between us — and I learned quickly that the Crawford’s could scrap! I remember run ins with Ricardo, Kalonji, and Zeek that made me realize it was better to be friends with the Crawfords than to fight ‘em.
So, we became lifelong friends, extended family even. I would still visit the Crawford family house whenever I came home because Tono and Zeek still lived there.
Speaking of Zeek, he would want me to tell e’rybody right now that he was Michael Jackson’s biggest fan. True story — and he showed it in the most meaningful way.
I first learned about his very real skill for performing Michael Jackson songs in middle school. In fact, that’s the subject of one of my two favorite memories of him.
The first is from the Whitney Young Middle School talent show (1979–1980) when 7th grade Zeek beat the socks off of me and my 8th grade friends and the whole school with an excellent performance of “Rock With You” from Michael Jackson’s first solo album that was released the year before.
Me and my friends were singing The Temptations’ songs back then — “My Girl” or “Just My Imagination” — and we was smooth with it. But Zeek tried to tell me we wasn’t gonna win.
“Bake! Nahh, Bake! Nahh! Nahh! Yall ain’t gon’ win, Bake!”
That was Zeek. He not only told me that we wouldn’t win; he told me that he would win — and then he did.
Zeek set the Whitney Young auditorium on fire! The sound of the music set it off. Once that started bangin’ and the lights went on — Zeek had the outfit, the moves, and maybe surprising to some, he sang Michael Jackson pretty well. Especially back then. You could still see it in him up to his last days and he wasn’t bashful about sharing his talent.
He won that day back in middle school, but he didn’t gloat because he didn’t have to. He knew he was winning from the start! I recognized, too, before it was over and gave him his props. He had done a fantastic Michael Jackson imitation — the highest form of flattery well done by Michael Jackson’s biggest fan.
He was known to drop an MJ song for any reason or no reason at all after that; the life of the party at any family gathering or community event — and he always did a good job with it.
Mike didn’t know it, but he was lucky to have a biggest fan like Zeek — and we were lucky to have him, too.
At least a thousand people are saddened right now by his transition. But we can find comfort in our best memories of him and the lessons we can learn from how he lived while he was here with us.
So, what can we learn from Jureko Crawford’s life? What is his legacy?
I find at least three lessons he left that, if embraced and lived by enough people, the world would be a better place.
The first lesson is to enjoy this life — in spite of its trials and challenges; its tricks and hurdles; its foul ways and rampant abuses where the least among us violate the most precious in unlimited ways.
In spite of joy being stolen nonstop as a daily vocation all over the Earth, Zeek chose to stay true to his own heart and spirit to enjoy this life. We all saw it in him and shouldn’t miss the opportunity he gave us to learn from it.
The second lesson he left is to love your family and friends with all of your heart — and e’rybody knows that Zeek did that. He got it from his family.
The Crawfords are a model of family love — and it shows well because there’s a lot of ‘em, and they enjoy being together.
That love for family that Zeek had in his heart extended to close friends and that connects to the third lesson I learned from him and my second favorite memory of him.
The third lesson is really more a lesson for men, Black men, in particular, more so than Black women. The message and lesson Rico left for Black men is that we need good friends, yall, and as friends, we need to always treat each other like we know we need each other — because we do.
We got Black men out here in the news for killing their wives, the women in their lives, and their children. I can guarantee you those men didn’t have friends like the Baker boys and Crawford boys were to each other and still are as we grew to be men.
Real friends make you a better person in many ways; they hold you accountable. As part of what it means to be a friend, Zeek understood the importance of showing and even telling your friends that you love ‘em. Zeek showed his love for family and friends in a number of ways.
He showed the Baker family what we meant to him in a real way, with no shame.
Zeek was one of many people who stopped by our house on the corner of Helen and Canfield back in 1981 when we moved out of the old neighborhood. He was there kickin’ it with us laughing and helping and just part of the flow of things. Then, out of nowhere, Zeek started crying like a baby. Big ugly tears.
And Zeek was scrappy, you know. So, I was completely caught off guard. I remember him saying in the midst of my surprise, “I hate to see y’all go” — or something like that.
It was in the moments immediately after, I believe, when I first began to truly understand and fully appreciate the bond between our families.
Zeek was a big part of that, and we’re all better, and the communities we occupy now are better because of it, and we need more of exactly that.
The world would be a better place if we had it — and will be better when we get it. So Black men take note of the importance of having and being a friend to each other, cause we ain’t got too many friends outside of us.
That’s what I learned from Zeek — and I will forever be grateful that I got to know him well enough to see him live those lessons in full color.
Zeek was such a good friend in this life that I hope our paths cross again in the next one. My family sends heartfelt condolences to the Crawford family as you adjust to his new role as an ancestor.
I pray that our dear Brother Rico’s transition was smooth and swift and that Michael Jackson and countless other honored ancestors warmly received him and have made a comfortable space for him.
We will pour libations in his name and always ask for his guidance and protection as a new angel for us in heaven.
May the love, the joy, and the life lessons Jureko Crawford left last forever, for surely they will.
Hotep. Ase. Heri. Amen. (With peace, divine power, and many blessings, may The Hidden One [and Brother Zeek] hear my plea….)
