"They have to see us!"

I just watched the Town Hall on Gun Violence on 6ABC. Viewers heard from the Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, Mayor Kenney, DA Larry Krasner, along with Soloman Jones, radio host, author, activist, Man Up Philadelphia, Ted Qualli, executive director of PAL, Bilal Qayyum with Father’s Day Rally Committee, Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight founder of Mothers In Charge, and Insprector Derek Wood with the Philadelphia PD. Also speaking were State Senator Sharif Street and Ms. Keir Bradford-Gray of Public Defender’s Associates. The hour was moderated by Sharee Williams.

The focus of this Town Hall was on the people disproportionately effected by the gun violence, who are young men of color, and neighborhoods that are economically disadvantaged. The souls represented in our portraits reflect that unfortunate statistic.

I took notes and the words I wrote down most were “resources” and “lack”. Lack of those resources, lack of education, lack of economic opportunity, lack, lack, lack. I wrote “poorest big city in America”, “relentless cycle”, “young black men don’t fear consequences because they are living a consequence”, and “radical action is needed”.

Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight ‘s son was 24 when he was shot and killed over a parking space. Radical action is needed, indeed.

There was a comparison made between supplying guns to certain communities with the supplying of crack - both benefited outside sellers and both ruin communities.

Most importantly, I think, was the observation by Senator Street. He was raised and still lives in one of the areas hardest hit by gun violence. He recounted how it is hard to find a child, a child, in his neighborhood who did not personally know someone who had been shot. He reflected on the Catholic church’s scandal and how the state legislature moved quickly and decisively to deal with it. Common sense gun legislation does not get the same attention. “They have to see us!” he said., emphatically. Yes. Yes, these victims, these families, these communities need to be seen.

The systemic racism that is entrenched in our country will not be changed overnight but if it is not addressed radically the toll of gun violence will continue to reflect the inequities wrought by these systems.

I hope you will share this with your family and friends. I hope you will vote, not just for president but at the local level on up. I hope that you will take a moment to re-look at our portraits, to see who these souls are, to sense their beauty, their right to a life that was taken or horribly altered. I hope you will take action to effect change.

Take the time to see these victims.

Laura Madeleine

“Remember When We Were Together” Portrait of Darryl Singleton by Meri Adelman