A son of New Orleans. A father of the movement. A man who refused to let any child be invisible.
Andrew Joseph Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, a proud son of the Crescent City raised in the Catholic faith and shaped by the close family bonds and rich cultural traditions of southern Louisiana.
He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Criminal Justice from Grambling State University. For more than two decades he devoted his career to youth advocacy and community organizing — serving as a lead assistant principal in alternative learning environments for adjudicated young people across the Southern Louisiana region. He was the kind of educator who walked alongside the children others had given up on, holding the line on their dignity and demanding that systems treat them like human beings.
After Hurricane Katrina, Andrew and his family relocated to Tampa, Florida, where he continued the work. He did not start over. He expanded.
Out of that loss, Andrew and Deanna founded the Andrew Joseph Foundation — “AJ Soars” — a 501(c)(3) dedicated to children’s rights, child safety, and non-violent conflict resolution. He went on to serve as Rapid Response Coordinator for Black Lives Matter Grassroots, traveling across the country to stand with families harmed by police misconduct. In September 2022, a federal jury in the Middle District of Florida found the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office overwhelmingly responsible for AJ III’s death and awarded the family $15 million — a verdict that became a touchstone in the national fight to end qualified immunity.
He leaves to cherish his memory his devoted wife, Deanna Joseph; his beloved daughter, Deja Joseph; and a host of family members, friends, comrades, and movement family. He was preceded in death by his son and namesake, Andrew Joseph III — whom he can now, finally, see again.
