Conversations about gun violence prevention continued this past Thursday at “Beyond the Headlines,” the AmNews’ most recent “Beyond the Barrel” convening, held at the 1199 SEIU Manhattan headquarters. The trio of panels, moderated by NY1’s Errol Louis and AmNews’ own Helina Selemon and Karen Juanita Carrillo, explored gaps in shooting coverage.
Bill Moore photos
Selemon led discussions about the impact of gun violence on Black and brown Americans in the healthcare field. Panelists were Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E’s Jackie Rowe-Adams, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East secretary-treasurer Milly Silva, and Columbia Mailman School of Public Health assistant professor Dr. Heather Butts.
“We’re trying to start from the very beginning,” said Butts. “Before ABC-XYZ has happened, we’re trying to deal with social determinants and intervention.”
Louis was joined by Teamsters 237’s Shavell Knox, Frederick Douglass Houses Tenant Association president Carmen Quinones, and Living Redemption credible messenger Dedric “Be-Loved” Hammond to talk about gun violence’s impact on Black and brown public housing residents.
“Be-Loved,” the Amsterdam News documentary about Hammond’s journey from gun violence perpetrator to interrupter, was shown during the convening. The film was directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Andre Lambertson, produced in-house by AmNews investigative editor Damaso Reyes, and released this past summer.
“They [have] so many programs for people to kill themselves, but for those who don’t want to die, and we’re getting gunned down on the street every day, they don’t want to make billion-dollar programs for us,” said Hammond.
Carrillo oversaw discussions about educational impacts for Black and brown communities due to gun violence. Her panelists were Department of Education security director Mark Rampersant, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, and NYC senior advisor to the deputy mayor Lemuria Alawode-El.
“We talk about the choices young people make, but what choices are we giving them?” said Weingarten. “We need to take a hard look at the young person in the village, and not inviting them to the village and providing them with what they need to function in the village—and then we wonder why the village gets burned down.”
Thursday’s convening stemmed from the “Beyond the Barrel of the Gun: Reducing Gun Violence in Black and Brown Communities by Empowering Solutions” initiative announced last year to rethink how gun violence is covered (for the sake of brevity, it’s frequently known as Beyond the Barrel). The idea is to highlight solutions on a platform known as New York City’s largest and oldest Black newspaper.
The AmNews also held “From Sorrow to Solutions,” another virtual convening, earlier this year, which also featured Rowe-Adams as a panelist.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.