{"id":4938,"date":"2021-02-10T21:15:10","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T21:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=4938"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:42","slug":"week-of-peace-vigil-stirs-mourning-pledges-to-curb-street-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/02\/10\/week-of-peace-vigil-stirs-mourning-pledges-to-curb-street-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace vigil stirs mourning, pledges to curb street violence"},"content":{"rendered":"
On Sunday, men and women in bright green baseball jackets and fluorescent yellow masks took possession of a corner of McDougald Terrace where several shootings have occurred over the last five years.<\/span><\/p>\n While the Bull City United members finished setting up, people who live nearby and supporters from other neighborhoods rolled in, by foot and in cars. Joyful songs like \u201c<\/span>Before I Let Go<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/span><\/i> by Frankie Beverly and Maze played from speakers as people greeted one another.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A <\/span>street outreach program<\/span><\/a> founded in 2015, Bull City United, tries to reduce gang and gun violence by <\/span>framing it as a contagious disease<\/span><\/a> that can be treated and prevented. The group\u2019s <\/span>strategy<\/span><\/a> involves detecting and interrupting conflicts, identifying and treating high risk individuals and changing social norms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many team members come from Durham neighborhoods where this violence is most common.\u00a0<\/span>They hosted seven vigils across Durham last week to honor the <\/span>Week of Peace<\/span><\/a>. The vigils remember people lost to gun and gang-related violence and work to spark hope that things can and will change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Durham experienced a surge of gun violence last year. From Oct.1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2020, the number of people shot in Durham <\/span>soared 59% to 221 people<\/span><\/a>, according to police data. One out of every six gunshot victims in Durham during that time was younger than under 18, including eight children younger than 12.<\/span><\/p>\n On Sunday, David Johnson, a Bull City United supervisor, welcomed attendees as they arrived, most of whom he knew by name. Once more than 20 people gathered, Johnson took a mic and addressed the crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are out here trying to show our love and support,\u201d he said, adding how grateful he and the United team is for people joining them to seek change. \u201cY\u2019all have shown us nothing but love.\u201d<\/span> Gray invited any mothers who lost children to violence to speak. Mothers were there, but none stepped forward.<\/span><\/p>\n Gray then read names of people killed by gang and gun violence in Durham in 2020. DaShawn Jones was on the list. So were Benjamin Smith, Terry Bradshaw and Kordell Young. Gray choked up shortly after naming Young, who was <\/span>fatally shot<\/span><\/a> on March 20 last year. <\/span> Once 40 names were read, the mix of families with young children, young and older men and women, and quiet, bereaved mothers shared a moment of silence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ashley Canady, president of McDougald\u2019s resident council, walked to the center of the group and started singing \u201cHero,\u201d by Mariah Carey. The lyrics <\/span>fit with the push to encourage community members to work together to reduce violence. <\/span>\u201cWhen you feel like hope is gone, look inside you and be strong, and you’ll finally see the truth, that a hero lies in you,\u201d she sang.<\/span><\/p>\n As Canady continued, United team members in the green baseball jackets passed around white and green star-shaped balloons, another tribute to people lost last year. Everyone released the balloons together. A wave of quiet passed through the crowd as they watched the balloons rise to the sky.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPeace is a lifestyle,\u201d said Gray, back on the mic. The people surrounding echoed the words back to her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After Gray led a short prayer, people lined up for boxed meals of soup, sandwiches and cupcakes. They picked pandemic goodie bags holding hand sanitizers, fluorescent masks with a Bull City United logo, water bottles and T-shirts.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Tammy Goodman was one of the mothers present who did not address the crowd. She wore an orange sweatshirt with a photo of her son, Charleston Goodman, on the back. <\/span> Sundays are difficult for Goodman and her family, she said before Sunday\u2019s event began. And vigils are bittersweet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>Johnson introduced \u00a0Keshia Gray, United\u2019s outreach coordinator, who knows the McDougald community because some of her family lives there. \u201cIt sure is good to be home, y\u2019all,\u201d she said. \u201cBut one thing that is getting up out of here is gun violence.\u201d <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Determined whoops and \u201cYes Ma\u2019ams!\u201d escaped from the crowd. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Bull City United has not been as visible in recent months as it was after launching in 2015. Gray said it is <\/span>growing now<\/span><\/a>, pointing to Ty Robinson, a young man in the process of becoming a conflict mediator. She knew Robinson originally as a person at risk of being exposed to violence, she said.
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\n\u201cGun violence is not normal, depression is not normal, the effects of gun violence aren\u2019t normal,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cBurying your children is not normal and we are not going to allow it to be normal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>\u201cHe was one of our own,\u201d Gray said, noting Young was active in Bull City United.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Seeing Gray overwhelmed, Johnson took over reading names. Starting with Jose Rodriguez, Russel Dukes, Jr., Phillip Jones, then Anthony Adams, Jessica Cortez Luna and Joshua Lindsey, he listed many more.<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>Three years ago, 26-year-old Charleston Goodman was <\/span>kidnapped<\/span><\/a> outside of his home in East Woodcroft Parkway on Sunday January 28th, she said. He has not been found. In August 2019, his nine-year-old godson, Z\u2019yon Person, was <\/span>shot and killed<\/span><\/a> in a drive-by shooting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n