Honoring Mickey Harmon and Jordan Celotto
A message from Jen White, Lexington Co-op Marketing Manager
The Lexington Co-op joins the rest of our community in grieving and honoring Mickey Harmon and Jordan Celotto, brutally murdered this week in their Allentown home.
We are heartbroken beyond belief for their friends, family, and all who loved them.
Mickey and Jordan were friends to many who work here and walk through our doors. I knew Mickey better through the biking community. Just last week, Mickey sat with me and other Co-op leaders to help us provide alternative transportation resources to Co-op workers. He arrived early looking fabulous as always, and the moment we greeted each other we hugged, the last hug I’ll ever give him. He referenced an idea that he was developing with his GObike teammates that Lexington Co-op would join a biking challenge to face off against other employers, slating us in the “Punk Rock” group. Just another example of the way he led with fun and positivity.
Mickey and Jordan believed in community, connection, holding space for one another and having fun. They were dedicated to creating beautiful art, covering our city in it, and creating opportunities to connect around art. As a transportation advocate, Mickey brought the Naked Bike Ride to Buffalo; to make a statement about cyclists’ visibility and vulnerability and loudly state that we are here and deserve to take the lane. He did this while also making it a party about love, acceptance, body positivity and inclusivity. I will never forget the time I first screamed “LESS GAS, MORE A**!” as he led a group of 200 naked people through the city.
Mickey and Jordan remind me of the founders of the Co-op. They were outsiders, hippies, punks and radicals. They started their own grocery store to buy whole grains and tofu, they knew they wanted more and better options to natural foods, and they organized to go out and get it. And that is exactly how Mickey and Jordan lived their lives.
We believe that community is what connects us, drives us and gives us power. It’s what gets us through pain and loss. Seeing Buffalo come together in love and remembrance of Mickey and Jordan has been deeply moving. It is hard to find the right words when so many have already said them so beautifully, but I want to say this:
Our deepest condolences go out to those in pain. Please remember to take care of yourselves. Eat, drink water, go for a bike ride and hold each other close.
This loss is immense. It doesn’t feel real. It will take a long time to grieve and heal, and we may never fully recover from losing two such incredible people.
But what we can do, what we must do, is step up together. We need more leaders, not fewer. We need more radicals who aren’t afraid to create the spaces they want to live in. And to have a lot of fun and include a lot of people while doing it. We need to carry on their work, take the baton, and make Buffalo better in their memory.
Mickey and Jordan, may you rest knowing your community will continue what you started.