Denise Griffiths, a UF English language and literature senior, died Wednesday after succumbing to brain and spinal injuries. She was 21.
Griffiths was a spoken word poet and aspiring rapper. She wrote about being a black woman in America, her agency over her body and her desire to be seen and appreciated.
Though she wasn’t able to produce the mixtape she promised friends and family, Griffith’s writing lives on as a testament to her talent and compassion.
Griffiths’ grandmother, Cynthia Gainey, keeps videos on her phone of Griffiths performing. In one, she recites a poem she wrote about police brutality and violence against black people.
“I’m hurting for my people. I’m tired of hashtags,” she said. “Tensions building up while the justice system lags. If we all unite, imagine the lives we could save – in the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
About a month and a half before she died, Griffiths told her grandmother she registered to be an organ donor, Gainey said. Gainey was surprised and upset, and she asked why.
“She stood right there and looked back at me,” Gainey said, pointing to the middle of her living room. “She says, ‘Granny, if I can help somebody while I’m no longer here, I’m supposed to do that.’”
That’s the kind of person she was, Gainey said.
Griffiths was intelligent and purposeful from the beginning, her grandmother said. When she was 3 years old, Griffiths told Gainey she was going to go to college. She would drag a big book with her wherever she went and run her finger along the pages as though she were reading, Gainey said.
Words were important to Griffiths, said her best friend Jasmine Rivera, a 21-year-old political science and women’s studies senior. Griffiths said what she meant and expected the same from others, Rivera said.
She was a big advocate for treating people the way they should be treated, Rivera said, even if it meant going out of her way or making herself vulnerable.
She recalled the time Griffiths stopped a group of teenagers from harassing a stranger on a bus, and the time she intervened when she saw a man intimidating a woman downtown.
“She always stood up for what she believed in,” Rivera said.
Over the course of her four years at UF, Griffiths was a resident’s assistant, membership co-chair of SISTUHS, assistant director of Gatorship, president of the Jamaican American Student Association and a member of the UF Black Student Union.
Ashlee Perkins, assistant director of Gatorship, said Griffiths would greet people with a loud, “Hey, friend!” whenever she walked into a room. As involved as she was, Griffiths made time to catch up with friends.
“She wanted you to know that you were valued in her life,” Perkins said.
A vigil for Griffiths will be held in the courtyard between La Casita and the Institute of Black Culture until Wednesday, Feb. 12. A memorial service will take place Wednesday from 5-7 p.m. in the Rion Ballroom of the Reitz Union.
Griffiths’ funeral will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Passage Family Church, 2020 NE 15th St., Gainesville.
Proceeds from a GoFundMe page will help to pay for Griffiths’ hospital bills and funeral expenses, according to the page’s description. As of Sunday morning, the organizer raised $21,102 of a $15,000 goal.
Brittany Bridges, a 21-year-old Gatorship director and UF psychology and anthropology senior, said the outpouring of support for Griffiths and her loved ones is a testament to the love she shared and lives she touched.
“Even though she’s not with us physically anymore, her love is still very palpable and it’s still here,” Bridges said. “It’s going to continue to be here for a very long time.”
Contact Hannah Phillips at hphillips@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @haphillips96.
Denise Griffiths, a UF English language and literature senior, died Wednesday after succumbing to brain and spinal injuries. She was 21. Griffiths was a spoken word poet and aspiring rapper.
