High school football star. Peacemaker. Protector.
Nasir Iman Robertson Sadat was all of this and more, but above all else he was a family man. He was devoted not only to his wife and three daughters, but also to his extended family.
“When we had family events for New Year’s, for Christmas, for Thanksgiving, for anything, if Nasir was coming, everyone would be waiting on him and the kids,” his first cousin Jaidah Lee said. “When he came through the door he lit up the room — his personality, his smile, and you knew you were going to have fun with him, and people wouldn’t leave until they had a chance to see him.”
But rather than celebrating the holidays with Nasir this year, his family gathered together on Nov. 10 to celebrate what would have been Nasir’s 37th birthday. Nasir was shot and killed July 5, 2019 in North Philadelphia while working on an investment property he owned. Another man, Jewell Williams, the son of Philadelphia Sheriff Jewell Williams, was critically wounded. No arrests have been made.
“For his birthday we had a family dinner at his house, and it felt so weird without him being there. It was so hard,” Jaidah said. “We also went to the cemetery and we brought flowers and spent more than an hour there just laughing, crying, talking about memories that we had.”
Nasir and his mother
“He was so important in my family, and it’s so heartbreaking every day,” she said.
Nasir was born Nov. 10, 1982 in Philadelphia to Barbara Robertson and Naeem Sadat. Nasir, along with his brother and two sisters, grew up in Germantown. As a child, Nasir was recognized as a talented athlete, and he grew to become a star player for the Germantown High School team.
He was offered scholarships to several universities, and he chose to attend Western Illinois University. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sports management and social work.
Nasir was always a very busy man — he was an entrepreneur who had his own real estate and construction venture where he’d buy houses, fix them up and rent them out. He also had an entertainment group where he produced music for different artists and also did a workout video with a friend, among other projects.
His slogan was “respect the push,” which means respect the hustle and go for your goals.
Nasir and his father
“He’d say, ‘You gotta push through, keep going, don’t give up,” his uncle Chris Pearson said.
But his children, 13-year-old Iman, 8-year-old Farah, and 4-year-old Nas, whom he parented with his wife Jocelyn Berry, were most important to him.
“He loved his children, his three girls, and his kids loved him. Loved him,” Jaidah said. “He was an everyday dad — he’d pick his kids up school, cook for them, do activities with them, everything.”
When his oldest daughter decided she wanted to start rapping, Nasir supported her dream and even produced a few of her tracks, including a single called “Hot Cheetos and Doritos.”
Nasir had a charismatic personality and people were drawn to him. If he liked you, he treated you like family. Everybody was his sister, everybody was his cousin, Jaidah said, and once you were under his wing, he would look out for you and protect you.
He was also the one who’d try to resolve conflicts in his family.
Nasir with his wife and three daughters
“He’d be like, ‘Listen, we’re all family, y’all need to stop.’ He didn’t want to hear it,” Jaidah said. “He was the peacemaker. He’d gather everyone together.”
His uncle Chris said he wants Nasir to be remembered as “a great leader, a great father, a great nephew, a great grandson.”
“He was a very likable guy, not just because he’s family, but there really are not too many bad things I can say about him, besides that he ate all my food when he came to my house,” Chris said jokingly.
Jaidah’s 12-year-old daughter Kimora said: “He was a loving and caring person, and I don’t think the person that did this can understand exactly who they took or what he meant to my family. He would always make things better.”
Nasir is laid to rest at Friends Southwest Cemetery in Darby.
A reward of up to $20,000 if available to anyone that comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Nasir’s murder. Anonymous calls can be submitted by calling the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS.
A portrait of Nasir is included in the latest exhibition of Souls Shot: Portraits of Gun Violence.
“Respect the push.”
Date: 2019-07-05
Location: 3100 N 16th St, Philadelphia, PA
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