DALLAS — The tragic story of a young accountant and church worship leader who was killed by a former Dallas police officer is once again in the spotlight.
Botham Jean’s life is now the center of a two-minute public service announcement released this week by the NFL.
The PSA is part of the NFL’s "Inspire Change" initiative. The league and its players are using their platform to promote social justice and racial equality.
"To know Botham was to love Botham," his mother, Allison Jean, said in the PSA.
Jean was unarmed and inside his own apartment when he was shot and killed by former officer Amber Guyger in September 2018.
"He is the light in any dark room," Allison Jean continued.
The PSA, which was produced in partnership with the NFL, Roc Nation and the Botham Jean Foundation features Botham’s mother, father and sister.
They share memories narrated over photos and videos of Botham. In the video, they never acknowledge Guyger by name.
"What I hope to see happening is that our black boys are not seen as a threat," Allison Jean said.
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt is a representative of the Botham Jean Foundation. He says the project wasn’t easy for the Jean family to dive into at first, knowing the controversy around how the NFL handled preventing players from protesting on the field.
Yet, the foundation is calling the "Inspire Change" initiative a step in the right direction.
"This PSA allows people to get a glimpse of who Botham Jean was, what his loss meant to his family and what the human cost of police brutality is from a family perspective," Merritt said.
Members of the Jean family say the Botham Jean Foundation has been focused on providing scholarships and continuing work and service projects in Dallas, Saint Lucia, and other areas across the world in the spirit of Botham.
In addition to its release across social media, Merritt says the NFL is airing the Botham Jean PSA during the game on Super Bowl Sunday.