14 Jan 5th–Jan 11th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | Ali OsmAn September 24, 2022 In the days and weeks after Ali Osman’s death, he was mourned and remembered in different ways. As a brother, a son, an uncle. A refugee from Somalia whose family had found a new home in Tucson. A devout, spiritual man. A once-successful Phoenix business owner who succumbed to his struggles with mental illness. On September 24, at age 34, Osman was shot and killed by Phoenix police officers. He had thrown a rock at a passing patrol car, and then again at two officers as they approached him. Osman had been plan- ning to fly to Kenya on September 27 to visit his mother, whom he hadn’t seen for 17 years. In 2022, Osman was one of 10 people killed by Phoenix police, including at least one other person with a history of mental illness. This fall, as the department resisted releasing the full footage of the shooting, Osman’s death spurred new outrage and demands for change — from Somali and Muslim communities in the city, and from people across the Valley. “I don’t know what else we can do,” community organizer Muktar Sheikh told New Times after Osman’s death. For years, Sheikh has pushed for police reforms and focused on the policing of refugee commu- nities. Yet Osman’s death seemed a sign that change was still a distant hope. “We’ve protested. We’ve elected officials. What else can we do?” Sheikh asked. — KATYA SCHWENK sylviA lAughter October 15, 2022 She was the first Diné woman to serve in the Arizona Legislature and the first and only lawmaker to do so as an independent since Arizona became a state in 1912. Sylvia Laughter, who died in October at age 63 after a 10-month battle with COVID-19, left an undeniable mark on the Copper State. Laughter served in the state legislature from 1999 to 2005 and helped secure more than $20 million in funding for elders, education, and veterans, according to the Arizona Republic. She sponsored the bill that produced the Navajo Nation license plate and legislation to create an annual Indian Nations and Tribes Legislative Day. Laughter was a Navajo woman who descended maternally from the Towering House Clan and paternally from the Red Running into the Water People Clan. She grew up with a foster family in Mesa and graduated from Brigham Young University in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications and a minor in music. “Our mother, Sylvia Marie Laughter, fought a long hard battle with COVID the last 10 months and passed away unexpect- edly October 15, 2022,” her daughter Nakita Nez Guminiak posted on Facebook. “She was the strongest woman we knew, an inspiration and advocate for freedom and truth. She had many hobbies, one of which was thrifting and chalk painting beautiful furniture. We love and miss her so much.” Laughter’s son, Ned Mitchell Nez, died at age 19 in an automobile accident in 2003. She is survived by daughters Nez Guminiak and Tasha Vlach, as well as seven sisters. — NATASHA YEE >> p 17 Departed from p 12
