(dramatic piano music) - [Voiceover] Welcome to a 6ABC and WHYY community town hall, confronting the crisis: gun violence.

Now, here are WHYY's managing editor of community engagement, Chris Norris, and 6ABC's Sharrie Williams.

- The strife surrounding the violence in Philadelphia is breathing down residents' necks.

Compared to last year, overall shooting deaths are up 23%, and deaths among children are up 79% compared to this time in 2020.

Of the gun violence victims in Philadelphia so far this year, nearly nine out of 10 were black.

It's tearing families apart and stretching law enforcement thin, but the pain and yes, anger are giving rise to new voices in the community, speaking up saying, "Enough is enough."

I'm Sharrie Williams with 6ABC.

For the next hour, we will amplify some of those voices.

No matter our zip code, this is everyone's problem, and we can't lose sight that there are solutions and these deaths are preventable.

Let's go now to my co-moderator for this hour, Chris Norris, with WHYY.

Chris.

- Philadelphia is a great city, with a lot to be proud of.

The safety of its streets, however, isn't among them.

Philly has the highest murder rate per capita among the country's 10 largest cities, and our homicide clearance rate of 41% sits well below the average of 61.4.

Add to that a poverty rate of 23%, and you're looking at a city in crisis.

These problems seem insurmountable, but every day scholars, elected officials and activists are confronting the crisis.

What are these people learning about the gun violence crisis and the root causes?

What are their recommendations to the government and communities?

Are they receiving adequate support for their work?

And do they see brighter days ahead?

In this hour we're answering those questions and more, as we introduce you to the brave thinkers, leaders and doers who are on the front lines, fighting for a safer Philadelphia.

Sharrie.

- [Sharrie] Well, Chris, the data shows that the majority of the violence in the city is concentrated among a small percent of people and places.

Well, this map of Philadelphia was compiled by the 6ABC data journalism team.

It shows the neighborhoods where shooting incidents happen repeatedly.

The city has actually pinpointed 14 zip codes impacted the most.

These are the residents in areas where more resources are needed.

Our data team also compiled the ages of those who are being fatally shot.

As you can see, the age group of 18 to 24 is highest among those dying at the hands of a firearm.

Part of addressing the gun violence epidemic involves addressing the trauma it leaves behind.

And so often, women are the ones experiencing that trauma.

Action News, race and culture reporter Tarhonda Thomas takes us to one event that hopes to start the healing process.

- You don't know how to handle it.

- [Tarhonda] They are the ones who come last.

The mothers, the wives, the women who put their families first.

- [Dr. Johnson-Speight] So many women that I'm meeting on a daily basis, who are experiencing trauma.

- I have PTSD because the trauma from our son, when our son got killed.

- [Tarhonda] Losing loved ones to violence.

And in Philadelphia, there's more violence than ever.

- [Kenyatta] We're on a trajectory of surpassing 600 homicides.

- [Tarhonda] But the numbers never include the ones left behind.

That's where this event comes in, encouraging women to address their trauma.

It's the reason why Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight founded Mothers In Charge, after her son was killed.

- [Dr. Johnson-Speight] To let them know that they can triumph over the trauma.

- [Tarhonda] Her event aims to heal the hurt of violence and incarceration.

It includes those trying to make a difference for the city.

- We have a city to save.

- [Tarhonda] And the nation.

- [Fox] It's time to get our house in order.

- [Tarhonda] Fox Rich of the couple Fox and Rob, from the critically acclaimed Amazon documentary, Time, speaking on the habit that 21 years of incarceration wreaked on their lives.

- I'm telling you something I know firsthand.

- [Tarhonda] Knowing their trauma can help heal others.

- And once we heal ourselves, we heal our children.

And then we can move on and heal our whole communities.

- [Tarhonda] They think stopping the violence begins with Philadelphia returning to its roots.

- [Rob] This is the city of brotherly love.

It has to become a city of love.

- [Tarhonda] Giving love and understanding trauma.

- [Kenyatta] Let's look at the root causes.

Why is a young person picking up a gun in the first place?

- [Tarhonda] As women try to heal a city, by first taking care of themselves.

- The power is in me.

- The power is in me.

- [Tarhonda] In Strawberry Mansion, Tarhonda Thomas, Channel Six Action News.

- There is seemingly no escaping the gun violence crisis, and residents are demanding accountability.

Let's listen in now to community voices expressing their frustration and outrage.

- No young person has to grow up like this.

This is ridiculous that we're here.

- Put down the guns.

How much more can you take?

Leave that old life behind you.

Move forward.

Now, today.

- I am a husband and I am a father to a six year old son named Aiden, a five-year old son named Isaiah, and a one year old daughter named Aaliyah.

I also am an endangered species.

- [Lisa] You sat out there in public and said, "Black lives matter."

How does it matter when you're not here giving any type of assistance or a state of emergency to assist the urban people here that are asking for help?

- We're now going to be joined by community voices.

John Solomon is the founder of Endangered Kind.

Ricky Duncan is the founder of NOMO Foundation, Saj Purple Blackwell is the founder of PQ Radio One, and state representative Joanna McClinton, representing the 191st legislative district.

Welcome to you all.

John, I'm going to start with you.

How would you respond to individuals who say that the problem of gun violence is so systemic that there's actually nothing anyone can do in the short term to solve this problem?

- I'm a firm believer that it takes the community to address this problem.

For many years, the community has held elected officials and has held systemic issues accountable for the issues we're experiencing within our communities.

And it's one thing to acknowledge and identify that these are issues within our community.

But when you're talking about young black men being killed at high levels, and these are family members, these are our sons, these are our nephews, our cousins, our brothers, our friends.

When we're speaking about people within our community, we have to hold ourselves accountable, when it comes to addressing issues of gun violence, because people outside of our community are not close enough to the problem.

They say the people that are closest to the problem is closest to the solution.

So we're the people that's closest to the problem.

So it's going to take us as a community to come outside and to get connected to these young people, to begin a process of even addressing this issue, because many of the times, when you go inside these communities, you'll see that there's a disconnect.

There's a huge disconnect between those that are involved in gun violence, and those that are simply law-abiding citizens.

There's a disconnect between the elders and the young people.

So we, as a community, we have to get more involved and get back to the, "It takes a village to raise a child," mentality, because that's what it's going to require for us to really address this issue.

And until we hold ourselves accountable as a community, and really have that mindset to address this issue, we're going to keep blaming or relying on other people outside of our community to address an issue that we need to address ourselves.

- John, I hear what you're saying; that those closest to the problem must be heavily involved if change is going to come.

The leader of the city, mayor Jim Kenney, has been under the microscope, taking the good with the bad about his handling of public safety in the city of Philadelphia.

The city is on pace for its deadliest year on record.

We ask the mayor why he does not plan on issuing a declaration of emergency to address the gun violence.

We also will get reaction from a city council member, Jamie Gauthier, who has been critical of the mayor.

Let's start with mayor Kenney, who recently was on Inside Story.

- First off, I'd like you to explain to people... You're the biggest official in the city.

Explain to them what a state of emergency is and what goes into deciding whether or not to do it.

- A declaration of emergency is normally used by governors or the President of the United States in large disasters, where there's a hurricane or a tornado or 9/11 or any of those kinds of things.

And what those decorations do is they unlock resources from the state and from the federal government that comes down to help deal with the problem.

A mayor issuing a declaration of emergency would not unlock any new revenue, any new resources to help.

And it would not do anything different than we're doing now with inter-agency cooperation.

So, we do recognize this is an urgent crisis.

Two plus years ago, we deemed it a health emergency, and we declared it a health emergency.

We have coordinated all of our offices together.

We're working now with the FBI and the ATF, and no other city in the country has declared a state of emergency... And every city is dealing with this, and they have not declared that.

- His response that he's already doing enough, he's already doing all he can, provides no sense of comfort to the people that are being traumatized, absolutely traumatized by gun violence.

- [Sharrie] So, we heard from the mayor there, and his reasoning on not declaring the emergency response.

Let me go to Ricky.

Ricky, let me get your reaction.

Where do you stand on, when you hear the meat of what both sides are saying on that topic?

- Okay, well, my take on that is this: like at the end of the day, I follow on what John Solomon said earlier.

Like, it really starts inside with the community.

The community must take hold of the problem.

I understand we want the mayor to address this as much as he addressed the drug epidemic and things that's taking place in Southend.

Believe me when I tell you; the priority in South Philadelphia, I mean, in Philadelphia now, is violence, gun violence.

You know, and under that, it's the COVID and then there's drugs.

So we should be prioritized to the top of the list, and whatever can be done, whether it's putting out different funding for the people that is in the community, that's doing the work, whether it's basically, you know, more programs opening up more opportunities, and also, not to go away from what the councilwoman said, but, you know, I do believe there's a lot more that can be done.

To be honest with you, I believe a lot more that can be done, but I believe a lot more support should be put out there from the government and the city officials.

I think they should get behind us 125%.

But I also think it starts at home.

I think us as a community, us as parents, us as role models, which I call real models, us as leaders, community activists, we got to go full throttle ahead.

But I understand that we can't do it alone.

- Saj Purple Blackwell, I'm going to go to you.

At times, you've described your neighborhood of West Philadelphia, along the 52nd street business corridor, as a war zone.

And yet you've put yourself and your family on the front lines, with the neighborhood watch initiative.

How's it working so far, and what is your message to neighbors who are too afraid to walk the streets with you?

- Thank you, Chris.

My message is very clear.

We are the ones we are waiting for.

We can no longer sit back and wait on people like the mayor and our elected city officials to do all the work.

I echo with my counterparts and my peers.

The work starts at home.

We cannot be scared to go outside.

We have to change that narrative.

So we here at the Blackwell Culture Alliance and Pqradioone.com have decided to be that change.

Okay, so we don't have enough police.

We don't have, you know, the curfews that we want set in place.

We don't have, you know, the support that we want.

We don't have the money we need.

Well, it does not take any money to gather your neighbors and walk around your block.

That's the message.

We are the change we're waiting for.

So, I encourage everyone to come and join us on our neighborhoods town watch, because we don't want to sit around and wait.

We want to disrupt.

We don't want to engage people, and make them feel uncomfortable, or that we are the enemy.

But what we find out is that, when we do go out on our community patrols and our community watches, our watch walks, they are interested.

These young people, the shooters, they don't want to be on the corners.

They don't truly want to be watching over their shoulders.

They want some relief, they want resources.

So we go out and we provide them with resources, to let them know that there is a different way that they can be living their lives.

So we are the change we're waiting for.

- Saj, I hear you agreeing with the panelists about the role those in these zip codes, in these neighborhoods must play, in becoming more active and really not really having to wait on anyone else.

As we know, it does take a collective in this.

Let me bring in now state representative McClinton.

And state rep, I saw in an op ed you did, you referenced this latest study in the Violence Policy Center that ranked Pennsylvania, in the nation, among black homicides, at seventh in the nation, with 88% of deaths responsible at firearms for black people.

I want to ask you: what is the state doing in regards to the flow of guns?

So many people asking where are these guns coming from?

How are we going to shut that down?

Because if we can't get easy access to guns, surely then that could help make this more preventable.

- Sharrie, thank you for that question.

Our Commonwealth has not been moving quickly enough to change the gun laws in Pennsylvania.

We have the Pennsylvania Safe Caucus here in Harrisburg.

We have our Pennsylvania legislative black caucus, and of course, I'm very privileged to be the leader for the Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus.

We have been demanding that the laws be changed, that the loopholes be changed, that you not be able to buy ammunition for fast guns, that you not be able to get things that are just making things just so much more unsafe, but we haven't seen enough movement, and we haven't seen it quickly.

So it's been very frustrating to see all of these deaths, not only in Philadelphia, but also in Pittsburgh, also in Allentown, also in Hazleton.

And because we haven't seen the laws change fast enough, we have to lean in on our law enforcement.

And for that, I'd just like to thank our attorney general at the state level, Josh Shapiro, because he has the gun violence task force, and they have been working hard across the state, but especially in West Philadelphia where I live and serve.

- Well, we know that the guns are going to keep flowing at the moment, State Rep.

So Ricky Duncan, I go to you: we know that telling the youth to put down the guns isn't enough.

So what are some of the new options and opportunities we could present youth who are most at risk?

- Well, yeah, that's actually what the acronyms of the program stands for; New Options, More Opportunities.

I believe that we can create more opportunities by trying to end the poverty, which is a result of hurt people, hurting people.

A lot of people are being hurt for a lot of reasons.

Most of the time it's because, you know, some people are just trying to eat and suffer from trauma.

So, you know, about getting into these communities and providing opportunities to get trauma-informed care, and deal with the mental health that, you know, not only COVID, but also the gun violence that hurt all these youth.

A lot of young people are hurting, and they're not just hurting physically, but they're hurting mentally.

So we've got to heal this.

We've got to do some more trauma-informed care to heal these youth that really are hurting, that's inside of our school system, that's not being able to be as productive as they would want to be, because they have a lot on their mind.

They have a lot on their plate, and they have experienced a lot over the last few years.

Also creating opportunities with, you know, a lot of the schools and some vocationals out of the school.

At NOMO, we create vocational opportunities, where we try to meet the young people at, where we've got studios, and we got sneaker restorations, and financial literacy classes, workforce development, so they can have an alternative to the street.

We got to be able to give them an option, because right now it's the streets or the house.

So we got to be saying, "No, we all got to create these safe spaces for our young people, to come out the door and know that they're going to be safe, educated, and elevated."

Because in order to change the altitude, we got to change they attitude.

The attitude is strictly saying that, you know, they feel hopeless.

We got to put hope back into our community.

We got to put hope back in the community, become that beacon of light that our young people can see that it is some alternative to these streets.

And it is life after, you know, seeing someone die.

You can go on, you can live, and that's not your ultimate goal, you know?

So that's what it is.

That's what we're doing at NOMO.

Trying to create these opportunities, trying to create that safe space, and trying to be that trauma-informed care opportunity for these kids so they can heal, we can pull the layers back, and get back into the schools, be productive, get educated, and hopefully leave these gun-riddled communities and grow on to go to someone bigger, better.

If not, if they decide to stay, let them be the one that pass off what we passed on to them, and each one to teach one, then we can grow as a community.

- [Sharrie] Yeah, if they can see the path, then maybe they can choose that path.

Great point, Ricky.

There are a number of root causes of gun violence and systemic factors at play, but we still expect those in leadership positions to be solutionary and effective.

The Philadelphia Police Department has a difficult job, and the reality is the homicide clearance of the number of killings, which is that the number of killings by police solve, that is what the clearance rate means.

That's only hovering around 40%.

I asked the department about it, and Commissioner Danielle Outlaw took ownership of the low levels and called it unacceptable.

But then she explained the challenges.

Here's her response, and it reads in part, "Numerous factors can be attributed to these declining clearance rates, such as reduced staffing, compounded by an increased number of cases and decreased resources.

Increasing detective staffing would assist in improving our clearance rates, however, promoting officers to the rank of detective takes officers off of the street.

The mere presence of uniformed officers aids in stopping homicides and shootings before they happen, and we need to get ahead of the problem in order to see results on the backend.

With improvements in DNA and other forensic technology, more evidence is being submitted for testing.

However, the increased shooting and homicide caseloads in the city have created a backlog in forensic testing.

In addition to these internal challenges, it's important to note that making arrest in cases of non-fatal shootings relies heavily on the cooperation of victims.

Due to many factors, law enforcement agencies must contend with the fact that many victims are reluctant to cooperate in investigations."

But of course she added, they are committed to the city, and thankful for the partnerships that they are building.

And she says it's going to pay off.

We also spoke one-on-one with district attorney, Larry Krasner.

Of course the police department and the DA, they work hand in hand.

My question to DA Krasner was; "Can mothers and fathers count on you to prosecute shooters and bad actors to the full extent?"

Here's his response.

- Parents who have lost a child, who have lost a child to homicide, especially to gun violence, are going through a crushing level of grief.

They're up against some pretty terrible stuff, and we have a whole variety of services that we want for them, but they should never lose sight of the fact that this office, before the pandemic shut down the courts, had a nearly 85% conviction rate for gun violence cases.

We are very, very good at what we do.

We do it without cheating.

We make sure it's accurate.

And we know how to prosecute people to justice.

And that's exactly what we will do with these cases.

- I want to take my question now to Saj on this one.

I want to get your reaction to what you just heard, Saj, in regards to the struggle that's happening on being able to identify shooters, because if you can't identify one, then they can't charge one, and then that person cannot be taken to court.

But I also want to hear your reasoning.

If you will explain; I know you are for increased policing in these zones where the violence is top of mind.

You are for even the National Guard coming into neighborhoods if necessary.

- Let's talk about when the mayor says, you know, no other city has created a declaration of state of emergency.

So, what we were asking from the mayor is not just a state of emergency.

We wanted a city-wide emergency, because in that definition, what a state of emergency or a city-wide emergency will do is change the laws during unprecedented situations.

So, being able to utilize the state of emergency means that we can actually change the laws, so that they fit what we need during this extraordinary time.

So, that means for me that we can change the laws that say, "Yes, we want to set a new curfew.

We're now saying that there's a legal time that you need to be in the house, seven o'clock, eight o'clock.

If your children are outside after these times, we need them to be accounted for.

Something needs to be done."

Also, if we know that we have these pinpoint areas, these high crime rate areas, we know the zip codes.

We know where the crime is happening.

It's not a secret.

If we had increased police presence.

And, when the National Guard was here for the uprising, they did their job.

They got on those corners and they disrupted, and the crime or the unrest went down.

All we're asking is for the National Guard or the increased policing to be put in these areas.

Some of us are okay with our civil liberties being disrupted at this moment, because we are dealing with unprecedented violence, unprecedented death.

We don't want another one of our children to die.

So, bring in the National Guard, put them where they're needed.

They're not needed all the way somewhere in Northeast.

They're needed in West Philadelphia.

But before we invite them to come into our community, I feel like they need to be trained on how to be in our community, how to deescalate in our community.

And that we want to teach our children to see something, say something, and be a part of the solution.

So we need to be part of the solution.

We need extra policing in our communities, because that's what our neighbors want and need.

We want the killing to stop.

And it starts with us.

It starts with the police.

It starts with changing the laws to make sure these things can happen.

- Well, we know that police and increased police presence and National Guard is only part of the issue.

It's also about disadvantaged communities.

Last year on WHYY's Neighbors in the Crossfire, I spoke to Reverend Gregory Holston about transforming disadvantaged communities.

Here's what he had to say.

- Our government, our federal government should have been, long ago, was asked, in the '80s, in the '90s, to put together what was called a Marshall Plan.

Like we've done for countries, Germany and Japan, after the end of the war, where we would put major investment in those areas to rebuild those areas for the next century.

And we have never done it.

We have never made the steps forward to make that happen, either on a state level or a city level as well.

And so, of course we have not really addressed the social determinant.

- I'm going to you, Rep McClinton.

Is the Reverend correct?

Has the federal and state government failed to invest in communities in a way that's transformative?

And what can the federal and state government do now to confront the crisis?

- There definitely needs to be more investment in our neighborhoods, Chris.

When we talk about the city's poverty rate being about 24%, in my legislative district that I live in and serve, we're at 35%, so we're higher than the city's poverty rate.

And we're talking about deep poverty.

We're talking about people that are not paycheck to paycheck.

People that don't even have a paycheck, that may not have groceries or access to food to feed their children and their families.

So when we think about this gun violence, it's a symptom of a larger problem, and poverty is in fact that problem.

So we do need our federal, our state and our local government to invest in communities, to make sure we have thriving commercial corridors.

Commercial corridors, equal jobs, equal internships, equal opportunity for our high school students.

One of the things we were able to do, specifically with the gun violence on the state level, was get $30 million for violence prevention grants for nonprofits across the Commonwealth.

And that will help organizations that are on this program today.

But we certainly need to look at infrastructure.

So while they're down in DC now, talking about the infrastructure bill, let that also include reinvestment in neighborhoods that have been poor for too long, for decades.

- State Rep, of course, we know the legislation that is involved in this has to be accountable, and has to run parallel with the efforts that are happening on the ground.

We also know that it takes funding to make things happen, and putting money into anti-prevention programs is paramount.

The mayor's budget has recently now put aside $155 million for this effort, but only $27 million of that is new money.

Action News reporter Bob Brooks now, with more on that.

- From a paradigm shift standpoint, we are re-imagining gun violence prevention.

- [Bob] They'll commit $155 million to gun violence prevention, an opportunity for Philadelphians.

Some of it will be spent with $30 million going to fund 911 triage, mental health co-responders, and jobs programs.

49 million will fund healing and prevention safe havens, along with out of school and summer programs for youth.

Plus 7.1 million will be directed to further job training workforce, led by the Commerce Department.

- I want to take my question now to John Solomon, the founder of Endangered Kind.

And John, I know your story.

You were 15 when you were shot.

At the age of 18, you shot someone, and then from there, of course, went into the criminal justice system.

And we know that there's a cycle to this.

Why are young people picking up the guns?

And where does the funding really come into play?

If you can merge that answer, because you have that perspective, you've been there.

- Can you clarify funding, before I even answer your question?

When you say funding comes into play.

- Sure.

These non-profits or anti-violence groups are now being really a part of the plan, more funding is going to them, like NOMO, nonprofits that people are really trying to say, "We are about anti-violence programming," to give youth an option.

The mayor is pledging to put more money in that area.

I want to just get your thoughts on how you do you view that the funding is truly going where it needs to go, but more so I really want to get your perspective on why you think then young people are picking up the guns.

What is the conversation on the streets, in that culture?

- Like myself, I grew up in a community where gun violence was normal.

And I can recall a time when I was about 11 years old, where I walked up to people who were shot and gunned down and looked at people on the ground, shot to death.

We grew up in communities where death is just so normal, and people behaving in a violent way is acceptable, and sometimes it's cool.

And many of these young people like myself didn't have the role model in my life.

So a lot of these young people don't have role models in their lives.

We don't have people, great leaders, to really steer us in the right direction.

So oftentimes, when you're a kid and you're growing up in these environments where you see gun violence that's happening on a daily basis, and you find yourself in a situation where somebody is trying to take your life, sometimes we imitate what we see in our community.

We seen people get killed at high levels.

So, when we find ourselves in a situation where we have to survive, sometimes, or many of the times, we resort to gun violence.

I, myself, I got involved in gun violence as early as the age of 13 years old.

I never had plans on being involved in gun violence or being involved in the streets.

I always had plans on going to college and doing something productive in life and being some type of professional within the medical field.

But growing up in my neighborhood, there were people that were trying to cause harm to me.

And realistically, we say that, when we're in situations like that, we need to call on the police, or we need to resort to a more healthier solution, or more healthier response.

But when you have people in your neighborhood that have access to guns, and is trying to take your life on a daily basis, and you don't feel like the police can save you, or you don't feel like there's somebody in the community to save you, sometimes survival forces you to react in a human-like way.

It's human for us to respond to anything that's trying to harm us with force.

So a lot of times these young people, man, they find themselves involved in gun violence from just being raised in a culture where gun violence is acceptable, and being raised within a culture where it doesn't always feel safe for us.

It don't feel safe for us right now.

I, myself, I did five years in prison, came home, and I didn't feel safe not carrying a gun, but I didn't carry one.

And it was only through a luxury, just luxury, that the people that I was going to war with was ready to move forward in life, so I didn't have to carry a firearm.

But many of the times, when you're involved in gun violence, once you start, you have people that's going to war with you that don't want to stop even when you stop.

So what do you tell a person when he's in a situation where he want to move forward in life, but the person that he was going to war with doesn't want to move forward in life, and you don't have the resources to relocate, and you still have to stay in the same community?

You're going to be forced to put a firearm on your hip to protect your life.

And as far as funding, I think more...

I think we need to understand who's actually out here doing effective work.

And simply support these people.

- I hear what you have to say, John, about survival.

Powerful statements.

I want to continue that conversation around funding.

I want to ask you all about the ways to support your work.

But first here's what Chantay Love of Emir Healing Center said on Neighbors in the Crossfire about government support.

- We have an epidemic inside of a pandemic.

And so, we all know that it requires resources to do it in a powerful way.

See it's being done, but can it be done in a powerful way to lessen the blow?

And can it be done for us to restore our communities?

Yes, it can.

But we also know that that takes resources, and that also takes us all changing a mindset of where the dollars do go.

- We're going to go 30 seconds to each panelist, starting with you, Saj.

What are ways that the governments could support your work?

And what do you think you could offer elected officials?

- Well, we offer boots on the ground community engagement.

We do that by fighting poverty, by giving, doing our food distributions every Saturday, Blackwell Culture Alliance, food and healthy food to our community.

So if you're not hungry (indistinct) dinner that night.

So we want to continue to, yes, receive the funding, but be more collaborative with our public officials that they're actually working with us step-by-step along the way, so that when I find a shooter that wants to change their life, I immediately had a program to put them in, to relocate or do whatever they need to do to make that change.

And I want them to continue to help us with the message that you know, snitching... We need to eliminate the idea of snitching.

We need to see something, say something, and we need to take that across the city, across the nation, for our young people.

- [Chris] Thank you, Saj.

Ricky, 30 seconds.

What are some ways the government could support your work?

And what support do you think you could offer elected officials?

- Well, government could... Of course, funding is a big support to anything.

But (indistinct) action.

But what we do at NOMO is we offer trauma-informed care, life skills training, vocational training, workforce development, a safe space for the kids to go, as we take a holistic approach by not just dealing with acute youth, but also add in parenting classes for the ones that's teaching them, because most kids are only responsible for what they know.

And this generation is, and I hate to say it, but it's a lot of generational curse.

So, bad habits are being passed down the pipeline.

So we're trying to nip it off and cut the bad habit pipeline off, and be able to give these kids some more cultivation of ways to be a better tomorrow and hopefully educate them, so not only will they attitude change, but the altitude will change, and then their vision will be something different.

- [Chris] State Rep, Joanna McClinton.

- I want every level of government to work together, like we saw people come together during this pandemic.

You would get briefings from the federal government, from the state government, and from the local government.

I would like to see our mayor working with our district attorney, working with our police commissioner, working with governor Wolf, working with the attorney general.

I want to not just see it, but I want to see the results of real collaboration.

We are in a crisis, whether there's a state of emergency declared or not.

We're in a crisis.

Our city is seeing the most violent times of days, and we need to see the same attention, the same focus and the same amount of collaboration that they did to educate people on Coronavirus, and to reduce the cases.

If that means a curfew, then we need a curfew, but we need to get out of the box with ideas and solutions, and really see collaboration, because our communities are in crisis.

- [Chris] Last but not least, John Solomon.

- So, Endangered Kind is a mobile advocacy organization of Philadelphia.

We help the local communities, shift the narrative and impact gun violence by engaging high-risk youth on the ground.

A huge part of what we do, which I feel like is necessary, and the role that we play is bridging a cultural gap and understanding cultural context.

Part of bridging the cultural gap is actually being out on the ground and actually having these conversations, and actually knowing who's involved in gun violence and taking that information and understanding the conditions that some of these people are experiencing, and helping the public to understand some of the things that they battle with, with transitioning out of a life of gun violence.

So that's what we do.

We do that well.

We've been through various parts of the city.

So if we had, you know, more support with that, and more support with people investing in us and building our infrastructure and helping us build our team and expanding throughout the city, so we can culturally connect with these individuals.

That's something that we'll be able to do, and that's the value that we play in addressing this issue and receiving funding.

- [Chris] John Solomon, Saj Purple Blackwell, Ricky Duncan, and State Rep Joanna McClinton, thank you so much for being a part of this conversation.

Sharrie.

- Great discussion here.

There is a pain, a level of heartbreak and emptiness that comes with losing a child through gun violence.

Most of us have no idea what that feels like.

And two mothers I spoke with hope you never find out.

Terry Jenkins and Michelle Parker know the agony of burying a child.

Both of their sons were murdered in Philadelphia.

They share their new reality of constant misery, but also their mission to push for change.

- It's as if someone takes a part of your DNA and kind of rips it out of your body.

So that makes you never the same.

I literally feel like, you know, for someone that I carried for nine months to my womb and now is no longer here.

A part of me died when he was murdered.

- [Sharrie] Michelle Parker is just trying to make it day to day, without her son, Evan Baylor, a Mastery Charter High School graduate who was taking classes through Penn State.

Evan had a car for sale, and on Saturday, June 19th, a young man came to Evan's West Philadelphia home to look at the car.

That young man was followed.

At least two shooters hopped out of an SUV and began firing, striking and killing Evan.

It was 2:22 in the afternoon on Juneteenth.

- He literally was an innocent bystander, and was gunned down in front of my home.

So everyday I walk out and I look at the place where he bled to death.

And that, for me is something that will be seared in my memory.

The grief that you experience in losing a child is hard enough, but to lose your child to gun violence at the hands of someone else, the words are inadequate to express.

- [Sharrie] Terry Jenkins knows that very same stinging pain.

Her son, Tejan Jenkins, celebrated his 19th birthday, July 20th, 2020.

Four days later, he was murdered.

Her only son found unresponsive from a gunshot wound on Philadelphia's streets.

- I would describe it as like madness.

If you could think of a person that is manic, it's almost like you become a person with multiple personalities.

That's how I feel sometimes.

They say it's five cycles to grieving, but they don't always come in a certain order, and you can always go back to them.

Whatever the first cycle is, the second cycle.

You can get to the fourth cycle and then go back to cycle number two again, which happens a lot, and especially the cycle of anger.

- [Sharrie] Parker and Jenkins are now channeling their pain and anger into community outreach.

The mothers are encouraging other families to keep fighting for their children's wellbeing, and to take an active role, right where they live.

- Get to know the police in your district and the police captain in your districts.

I know they have this big, you know, culture we have of not telling, and not wanting to be involved, but I want to let the community that you never know when your doorbell is going to ring with the bad news.

- [Michelle] Guns in our neighborhoods didn't just fall out of the sky.

They've come from somewhere, and in order to stop the spread, you have to get to the root of the problem.

You can't put the finger of blame on one person.

You know, you can't scream at the mayor, scream at the police commissioner, scream at the police.

It's a concerted effort by everyone.

- I want everyone to know my son.

I want everyone to know his name.

Tejan Andreas Jenkins.

- [Michelle] My entire lifestyle and reality has changed in the blink of an eye.

I can't pick up the phone and give him a call or text him.

And that's so hard.

- Difficult to just comprehend, but these mothers are living through the tragedy, and I know those on the panel, you guys can relate, especially Ms. Tamika Morales, as we now bring in our second panel.

And I will do the introductions here.

Tamika Morales, with Moms Bonded By Grief, is joining us.

She's a mother who lost her son to gun violence in the year of 2020.

Also joining us, Anton Moore, president and founder of Unity In The Community, the nonprofit that's trying to bring about positive change in the lives of those who live in South Philadelphia.

Also Juwan Bennett, a criminologist instructor with Temple, also lost a longtime friend to gun violence, his studies and work focusing on the connection of education and crime, and how it impacts juvenile lifers.

Also joining us on this panel, Scott Charles, a long-time trauma coordinator for Temple University Hospital has also created Cradle To Grave, which is a gun violence intervention program.

Also now on a mission, Mr. Charles, to make sure everyone has a gun lock, if they're going to own a gun.

So let me start with this first question, going to Tamika Morales.

I know you can identify with the mothers who just shared their stories of losing a child.

I want to say to you, Tamika, then, do you feel, as this process you're in, you find yourself wearing many hats?

You are a mother, but how much of an investigator or detective do you have to become, in some ways, to keep your son's memory out there and to try to find leads in the case?

You've gone as far as to purchase a billboard about your son, asking for help.

- Yes, I have definitely became a investigator.

I do my own homework.

Yes, I did purchase a billboard.

It's an ongoing fight.

It's an ongoing fight every day, and it never ends.

Yeah, so I definitely...

I'm involved, you know?

I know Antwan well, so, you know, I meet up with him sometimes with the rallies and the different things in the community.

So yeah, I definitely do my own investigation.

The detectives do theirs, and I'm doing mine.

- Sometimes, you've got to take the matters into your own hands.

Anton, you've been taking matters into your own hands for a while, and lately you've been making headlines for your carpentry program, which takes young black men who have the lowest life expectancy of any racial group in the city and teaches them a marketable skill.

But I got to ask, how is this program going to save lives?

- It's much more than a carpentry academy.

It's more about teaching these young kids life skills and different things like that by being able to build a connection.

I have young kids that's in my program that's working on getting back in school.

Some of them want to go to college.

Some of them have lost, you know, fathers in the neighborhood to gun violence.

So being able to work with them, you know, having a conversation, providing them with mentors, but also teaching them that you have to work for what you want in life, that is how you're going to save lives, because you have to take a vested interest into the young men in the community.

- One of the topics, of course, we have to address is moving forward after gun violence happens.

Ms. Morales was touching on that.

Once a family loses a loved one, the remaining surviving members are forced to adjust, and to cope.

Let's hear more now on this topic from Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight, with Mothers In Charge, who spoke with our Tarhonda Thomas even further.

- Why is it so important that these mothers, these friends, these siblings, fathers, take care of themselves too?

- Yes, that's so important, and thank you for having me.

Grief can be so debilitating.

If there's any type of medical issues one may have, you know, it gets worse with grief.

The traumatic death of someone, taking a loved one, is different from any other experience.

- [Tarhonda] After everyone's left the house, the phone calls have stopped and you're left by yourself to live the rest of your life without someone you love so much, what's your advice?

- It's a pain I can't even begin to describe, but it's important that we realize that it's not a sign of weakness when you're seeking help.

We need to reach out for counseling, you know, stay in touch with your primary physicians, your doctors, you know, to monitor your health.

And sometimes it's a year down the road before you realize, you know, "This really happened.

It's not a nightmare.

I'm not dreaming.

This really happened.

How do I begin to live my life now without my loved one?

Without ever seeing them again on the face of this earth?

How do I live?"

- The grief can be debilitating, as you just heard Dr. Johnson-Speight explaining.

I want to go now to Scott Charles, because there's also just a real reality that comes with this, and Mr. Charles, your outreach approach, it is gritty and in your face.

And you really go to young people to show them the ramifications of what gunshot victims... What they go through.

I've seen some of your work, and I've seen some of their reaction.

So what is your goal in showing that very graphic side?

And are you getting the results you believe in taking that level of approach?

- Well, thank you for the question.

I think that, you know, the most important part of the program is the narrative part.

The program gets a lot of attention for the brief period of the program that shows pictures of what gunshot injuries look like.

The point of the program is to humanize this experience, because what we've done for so long is we've dehumanized the experience of pulling the trigger.

We've somehow sterilized it and we've made it seem somewhat normative.

And the goal of the program is to let young people, particularly those who might eventually pick up a gun one day, hear from families, hear from doctors, hear from community members, to get a sense of the implications of pulling that trigger.

This isn't a program that's intended to scare anyone straight.

The goal of the program is to educate them straight, because we know that they're going to make very adult decisions, but we think it's important that they make informed decisions.

And with regard to the outcomes, we cannot look at where we are as a city and feel that any single program or initiative that we've done in the city has had the outcome that we would be happy with.

At least, I'm not content with this outcome.

I think we have to redouble our efforts.

We have to rethink what we've done.

And I'm so encouraged by some of the folks that you have giving feedback on this panel.

Some individuals who have tremendous expertise.

- Educating them straight, not scaring them straight.

I hear you, Scott Charles.

Thank you so much.

Is it necessary to understand street culture before engaging in anti-gun violence work?

Pastor Carl Day thinks so.

Here's a snippet of his remarks from Neighbors in the Crossfire.

- Ultimately, a lot of times, man, we have policymakers, activists or quote unquote organizers sitting at tables that really don't understand street culture, understand some of the codes in which people do operate under, or the lack thereof code.

And I don't think a lot of that is taken into account when people are trying to talk about how to solve the ills of our community.

- Juwan, I'm going to come to you with this question.

You often work with former juvenile lifers and criminologists.

What are you learning about street culture and the root causes of gun violence from your work?

- That's a great question, Chris.

And we've had this debate in criminology for years, as it relates to street culture.

People have asked, "Is it the kinds of people that are inherently criminal or dangerous, that may lead to gun violence?

Or is it the kinds of places?"

And a lot of people who studied place-based violence said it's the kinds of places.

Really interesting, Elijah Anderson does this study called Code Of The Streets, with the street culture on Germantown Avenue.

And as you travel up Germantown Avenue, you make it to Chestnut Hill, there's a stark difference between Chestnut Hill and maybe like Germantown and Shelton.

And basic says there's a street culture that exists when certain communities don't have formal social control, and so the street culture is respect, that you have to be respected at all times.

Carry yourself in demeanor, and so that respect oftentimes leads to violence.

And so I think it becomes critically important that we understand the type of places that people are situated in, that lead to gun violence.

And there's no coincidence, and William Julius Wilson talks about his work, and the true disadvantage that oftentimes, where you find high levels of gun violence, you also find high levels of poverty, low socioeconomic status, low levels of educational attainment.

And so we know that these issues are coupled, that they intersect with each other, are not particularly additive.

- [Sharrie] Juwan, I know you've been in that space, absolutely making sure that, "Hey, should children really be in these settings, once they get into contact with the justice system?

Should they really be grouped with adults?"

So we appreciate what you're learning in that capacity.

I want to now take my question to Anton Moore.

You have these impactful ideas.

You're doing the work with Unity in the Community, and what I want to know, Anton; you have a model that's working, you're engaging the youth.

But how are you finding it when it's time to expand, or time to do the next thing with funding, truly meeting the need?

Tell us how that process is truly working.

When we hear about all this money, what's the reality for organizations like yours?

- You can't depend on what someone say they want to give you.

It's one of those things where you have to go out and find the resources to help your neighborhood, because just last night as I was driving home, you know, I found out that a young man was murdered out the Wilson Park projects.

So when you look at that, it's like you have pressure on yourself to say, "Anton, you got to go out there and find them resources by any means necessary."

So when we talk about expanding, I'm on the phone, constantly sending emails, talking to people to say, "Look, I need help with getting this program off the ground."

Because we actually, you know, look at the young men and target the young men that are at risk, that are out here doing some of this nonsense.

- Absolutely, Anton.

My last question is for Tamika Morales.

Sadly, you lost your son Amad, excuse me, last July.

And his killer is still at large.

You and other mothers have taken out billboards, and you're seeking answers.

But what would you say to those who know something about your son's murder, or any murder for that matter, but are just too terrified to come forward?

- It's ways to say something about it.

I mean, you could call anonymously.

But I think that's the top issue of why so many murders are not being solved; because they're scared to talk.

I don't know the particulars of how they work these things out with keeping, you know, keeping it anonymous.

I don't know.

But I think that, when it comes to the community, we have to step up and we have to say something, because it's never going to end.

It's never going to end.

We have to find ways of protecting the ones that want to say something.

You know, it's never going to be resolved if nobody says anything, and we can see that now.

It's a lot of people that knows things, that don't want to say anything, because they're scared for their own lives.

- Tamika, we understand as much as we can, the extent that you are willing to go to keep this situation in people's mind, because surely, as you are stating, someone knows something.

And I know you're not giving up hope on someone coming forward.

I now want to just take a question to all of our panelists here.

And it's a bit of, you know, twofold.

You know, when these shootings happen, there's always a question of, "Where are the parents?"

I want to ask our panelists: are we being honest with ourselves on the level of the equation that parents hold in this?

And you know, if you were running the city tomorrow, what would be your first action?

And let me start that question, if I can, with Ms. Tamika.

You know, where do parents lie in the equation?

And if you were running this city tomorrow, what would you do first?

- I would say you have to be diligent in knowing what your children are doing, getting more involved.

And that's the key there, you know?

Getting more involved in what they're doing.

You know, I was the type of parent, I went in rooms, I went under beds.

I searched pockets.

So, that's something that I always did, but it's a lot of parents that don't, you know?

And I think that's the issue, that us as parents, we have to really start being parents again, and start going in these rooms, getting them keys.

We have to be, you know, snooping.

We have to snoop, because they're the ones that's committing these murders.

The young generation is the ones that's committing the murders and have the guns in the homes.

So, that's just my take on it.

I think that we need to really start being more involved.

- [Sharrie] I'll go to Anton now.

Quickly, your response, Anton, on where parents lie in the equation.

And is there one thing top of mind you would do right away if you were running the city tomorrow?

- Parents play a big role, because a lot of parents know what their kids are doing, but they turn a blind eye.

If I was running the city, I would set up infrastructure in the neighborhoods where the shootings are happening at, from the Philadelphia Police Department to district attorney's office, DHS, all the different agencies and set them up in those neighborhoods and give the needed resources and identify the problematic kids who need the help.

If they don't want the help, then we have to take the other proper steps to help, you know, address the needs of gun violence.

But something needs to change.

We need to clear out the offices at city hall, and put that staff in these neighborhoods where this stuff is taking place at, and start to address the needs.

It's kind of like how, when there's natural disasters in other cities and the president go there, and they bring all the staff out.

We need to do that on the city side and go to these neighborhoods, and we won't leave these neighborhoods until we address the needs of what's taking place.

- [Sharrie] Yeah, mobile on the unit, on the ground, right where the trauma is.

I'll go now, lastly, to Scott Charles.

Sir, very quickly, your regards on where parents lie in the equation.

And if you were running the city, what would be your approach?

- I think it's complicated.

I think that I've known Tamika Morales for years, and have the utmost respect for her.

And she is everything that she claims to be.

And long before she was coping with this herself, she was trying to prevent young people from meeting the same fate that her son did, so she's a tremendous person.

And this tragedy befalls all kinds of families.

I think the one thing that Anton touched about is the way that we have to invest in communities.

When we look at the neighborhoods where crime is taking place, there is no mystery about why this is happening.

We have divested from these communities.

We can look at the schools in these communities.

The fact that we do not adequately resource these schools or these neighborhoods, and where opportunity is absent, where imagination and hope are absent, violence is going to thrive every time.

And so I agree with Anton that we absolutely have to respond in a crisis manner, but we also have to respond in terms of long-term sustainable support in those communities.

And we have to address the mental health needs in these areas.

We are looking at the devastating impact that this violence that we've been experiencing for the last 18 months will have for generations to come.

- [Sharrie] Scott Charles, thank you, sir, for your comments.

To all of our panelists on that discussion, Tamika Morales, Anton Moore, Juwan Bennett, and Scott Charles, our thanks to all of you for being with us on that discussion.

Well, as we know, the faith community realizes that it has a very strong role to play in providing support and solutions to this violence crisis, especially the black church, which has been and still is, in many cases, the bedrock of black communities.

Community leaders realize that they must begin to reach children now at an even earlier age.

Senior pastor and visionary, Reverend Dr. Alyn Waller of Enon Tabernacle Baptist, talks about their program to mentor and uplift seven to nine-year-olds.

- One of the programs that we have is called the Young Abrahams.

I read the book, Countering The Conspiracy To Destroy Black Boys by Jawanza Kunjufu, probably 30, 35 years ago.

And he talked about how little black boys get messages around the age of six, seven years old, that they are not preferred by this country.

They get messages in the school system and in the streets that they're different and that they're less than.

And so, part of our challenge at that age is to counteract those messages with a message of affirmation.

And so my ministry to seven to nine-year-olds is just that; reminding them that they are preferred, that they can do.

Our children will rise to the level of our expectations, and our ability to affirm them.

And so, I can either buy into the narrative that they're all going to grow up and be mad at each other and flunk out of school and hurt each other, or I can involve myself and invest in the narrative that says, "These are some of the most gifted children that have ever walked the planet.

There's an old Akan proverb that says, "The ruin a nation begins in the homes of its people."

And we need to remember that there's a place for the police, a place for the mayor.

There's also a place for the church and a place for parents and family.

And when we all take our place, then we're going to see a real change.

And I believe, in my lifetime, we're going to see something different in the city of Philadelphia.

- Every day, there's a new headline about death and despair in the city of Philadelphia.

It's easy to become numb to this bad news, especially when you feel helpless about it.

But after today, I'm hoping that you're a bit more optimistic than you were the day before.

Because you know people who are confronting the crisis, and now you know how you can help them.

Each of us can confront the crisis in our own little way, and together, make Philadelphia a safer place to live for our family, friends and visitors.

I'm looking forward to the future and so should you.

- There is mounting research that violence can be reduced in our cities and on our streets, Chris, and the voices you listen to throughout this past hour are part of a growing chorus of residents and community leaders who are determined to address the root causes of gun violence.

So yes, there is hope, no matter our zip code.

This is everyone's problem.

Thank you for joining us for this special.

Our thanks to everyone who was involved, especially Chris Norris, my co-moderator for this hour at WHYY.

I'm Sharrie Williams.

Of course, there's more always at sixabc.com.

For more resources on this topic.

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