Do you know someone, who knows someone that was a victim of gun violence? If you live in certain communities in NYC, It would be very difficult to answer that question with a NO.
In minority urban communities throughout the country there is so much gun violence. Young people are dying, being maimed for life, and suffer emotional trauma that could affect their quality of life forever. Everyone suffers when there is gun violence: the community, family and friends and most of all the victim.
In NYC, there were in year 2016 330 homicides; in 2017 to date (4/16/17) there were 74 murders and 203 shooting victims.( NYC Compstat-week posted 4/16/17).
It’s very difficult, painful and with deep sadness to hear of so many murders of our young people, by other young people. Everyday in the media there are stories of homicides. Just this week, a friend of mine son was buried, murdered. I dont know the reason this happend; but there is no justification for resorting to gun violence, taking another’s life to resolve a dispute. Last week a young man suffering from mental illness, assualted a Florida airport, a mass shooting that killed 5, and hurt many more.
There are also survivors of gun violence and their love ones who are suffering in silence. You will rarely see reports on shooting victims that survived the violent assualt; yet we live with it every day. The collateral damage of gun violence can be devasting to the survivor and their familes.
Gun violence is senseless; and so often I feel helpless; but I cannot allow myself to feel hopeless. We have to figure out as a people and community to stop the killing of black and brown youths and young adults .We cannot continue to think that the government through a criminal justice/law enforcement appoach is going to solve this problem.This is our problem and we have to take ownership of it and begin to problem solve, one step at a time. We have to partner with community and government organizations to stop this tragedy.
We cannot be complacient !!!
I ask myself; what can I do on a grassroots community level to begin to turn this around? that is why I have established the online support group for victims of gun violence. however, there is so much more that can be done. If each one of us takes a small step, it will eventually turn into one giant step. Through collective impact and community advocacy we can make a difference.
A MOTHER’S STORY
I cannot divulge too much information about my story, since I am not the only one involved in it. I’m NOT sure if my family members are ready to share their experiences; confidentiality is always at the forefront of my mind. But for me, it’s been very difficult over the last few years. My son, my only child, was an innocent victim of gun violence and things began to fall apart.
I’ve tried so hard to keep things together, financially, emotionally, and spiritually, to find out after years of heartache, anger, fear and frustration, that’s a job that only God could handle. All parties involved were moving in the opposite directions, from me and from each other, which made it impossible to hold things together.
I could see that there was a lot of anger, anxiety, depression and pain that my family was experiencing; and they did not know how to get out of it. They would not seek help; however, they did pretend that nothing was wrong. Burying and denying the pain, only made the situation worse. Everything was out of control. I couldn’t see it, but I was fighting a losing battle. I put my family first, because I didn’t want to see them go under and ultimately my life had become unmanageable. Part 1–to be continued:
If you have a story to tell and want to start the healing process, please contact us to join our confidential support group on gun violence.