All of us  lost a promising young woman this past Monday.  Natasha Pettigrew, the Maryland Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate, was riding her bicycle Sunday morning, training for a triathlon, when she was hit by a Cadillac Escalade whose driver continued on without stopping until she got home and called police.  I do not want to discuss the particulars here except to say that there has been news coverage of the details.

I want to talk about Natasha.  I only knew her for a short period and I cannot claim to have known her well.  But what I knew of her was inspiring and amazing.  Natasha saw injustice all around her and wanted to do something to right it.  She was the embodiment of what a public servant should be, but in these times, rarely is.  She graduated from Ohio State with two degrees and had gone on to law school in Florida.  But as she became increasingly disillusioned with our political system and the many injustices it fosters, she knew she wanted to do something about it.  She knew she could no longer be silent and had to become involved in a more profound way.  So Natasha decided to take a year off from law school to come back to the state where she grew up and run for elected office.  She was that committed to public service.

When I first met Natasha, I liked her enormously and thought she had great potential to go as far as she wanted to go.  Natasha was one of the most engaging people I’ve met in years.  She had a wonderful gift of being able to connect with and inspiring everyone she met.  She was  passionate about so many issues, but especially the importance of education and preserving and strengthening our public education system.  She wanted to use her platform to tell young people how important it is to stay in school.  Natasha was the embodiment of the best in us: hard work, commitment to something other than herself, intellectual curiosity, selflessness, sacrifice and above all, love for her fellow human beings.

It’s very hard not to be angry about her needless and cruel death.  The time has come for us to have a frank discussion about SUVs and their place in our society.  They are dangerous to everyone else on the road, to pedestrians, to small car drivers like myself, and to bicyclists.  At the very least, the people who drive these behemoths need to rethink their reasons for driving them and join the rest of us in safer vehicles.

We cannot afford to lose even one person like Natasha, not just because of what great things she might have done, but because she was undoubtedly the brightest light to her mother, her family, her friends and everyone who knew her.

Natasha’s mother, Kenniss Henry, is planning a candlelight vigil for Natasha on Friday at 6pm at Route 202 (Landover Rd.) and Campus Drive, the intersection at PG Community College where Natasha was hit.  Please join us to honor a young woman who deserves to be remembered.

Natasha Pettigrew, Presente!  We will always remember you.