Except for my sister, who was murdered by her partner in 1971, I've never known anybody who was killed before.
Yesterday there was a notice that went out from the Davis police that a man had been killed in Central park...I believe it was the first murder in Davis in 3 years, but I may have read that wrong. Anyway, there was a man murdered.
This morning I read that the man was "stabbed several times." So very sad.
This afternoon I read the name of the guy who was murdered and while it was not someone that I actually knew, it was someone I had dealings with in the past.
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David Breaux was known around Davis as the "Compassion Guy." He spent five years, Monday through Saturday, standing on the corner in downtown Davis with a journal into which he invited people to share their ideas of what the word "compassion" meant. His goal in encouraging people to discuss compassion was to strengthen our understanding of interconnection and inspire us to act toward the alleviation of suffering in the world. He shared his favorite submission: “Compassion is giving a friend a $3 chocolate chip cookie from the Co-op when you were saving it for later.” To him, compassion means growth toward truth.
He compiled a book called Compassion Davis, CA: A Compilation of Concepts on Compassion from a portion of the thousands of anonymous entries he gathered.
I don't remember what I wrote in his journal. It probably had something to do with Compassion, International, from where I sponsor kids around the world.
At some point he got permission from AT&T, who owned the property, and organized volunteers to build a "compassion bench" on the property where he had been standing for so many years.
After his time in Davis, he visited cities throughout the US organizing community-based discussions on compassion, providing presentations on the concept of compassion as well as reflections from his work and personal experience, and facilitating the creation of monuments to compassion within local communities.
A note about his book, which was published after he returned from his tour read, "On June 3rd, 2009, David H. Breaux began asking people to share their written concept of the word "compassion" in a spiral notebook. "Compassion: Davis, CA" is a compilation of over 3,000 of those entries collected at the corner of C and 3rd in Davis, CA from June to December of 2009. Covering a wide range of ages, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, religious beliefs, and cultures, reading each entry will inevitably get you thinking about your own concept of compassion and how it fits into the world today."
On the day he died, David planned to host an online gathering “in the name of truth and peace,” something he did on a weekly basis.
To look at the hundreds of pictures of people who had signed his book, it's hard to think that any one of them would hate him so much as to stab him "multiple times."
Davis Mayor Will Arnold’s full statement:
The death of David Breaux is utterly and completely devastating.
Many of us knew David. We talked with him. We shared in his vision for a kinder world. We connected on what it means to be human and humane. David was gentle and kind, soft-spoken and thoughtful, brilliant and selfless.
David was well-loved and well-known, an icon to the core of our community. He touched so many lives in such a determined and inspired way that many of us in our lifetimes will never reach.
How we walk through this world, together as a community and independently as individuals, is important. It’s the people we meet, the messages we share and how we eventually leave this world in a better place.
David asked us to reflect on our actions and words. So let us do that together to honor his memory and acknowledge the work he did to make this world, and Davis, a better place.
Today, tomorrow and every day, please be kind with your words, be generous in your actions and act with compassion in whatever you do.
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