TAKE ACTION NOW

I recently attended a webinar entitled "Helping Gun Violence Survivors" led by Adam Garber of CeaseFirePA and featuring several panelists including Aleida Garcia, mother of Alejandro Garcia, who was shot and killed in Philadelphia, and Representative Joanna McClinton, who represents Southwest Philadelphia. These two women spoke passionately about their efforts to push forward legislation and enable programs for young people that address so many of the urgent issues that contribute to the gun violence epidemic. They mentioned other powerful forces such as Mothers in Charge and its founder Dr. Dorothy Johnson-Speight, and EMIR represented by Chantay Love.

I wanted to mention that the overwhelming number of participants in the Souls Shot Portrait Project are women: mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, daughters of victims of gun violence. I have been struck by the way in which these grieving women, more often than not, are stronger for their trauma and become resoundingly mighty and effective in their altruistic drive to keep others from having to suffer their fate.

I am not a fan of these themed months, Black History and Women's History, which seem like consolation prizes when systems that keep both women and people of color down are still firmly in place. However women, in their grief, and people of color, in their overwhelming losses of loved ones due to gun violence, need to be seen, heard, and heeded in these months and ALWAYS.

We must not, says Aleida, ignore the "frustrating acceptance of gun violence as normality."

We will continue to memorialize and humanize those souls who have suffered from gun violence through our powerful portraits. We salute the brave participants who are helping us dispel the myth of the inevitability and normalcy of guns in our communities. Please take action. Click on any of the links above or visit our Resources page to find a way to best help; the best way for you to take action. Don’t do nothing.

To watch the webinar hosted by CeaseFirePA, please Click Here.

Laura Madeleine

Alejandro, Portrait of Alejandro Garcia by Beth Carson, oil on canvas, 12” x 15” 2017