Gun Violence in Communities
By Fatimata Cham, Not My Generation 2019 Summit Attendee
Growing up in the South Bronx, I would see news stories flash by all the time of young children that had passed away from gun violence. It was difficult seeing that many of these children were younger than I was. Many of these children would never grow up to graduate high school like I did or start the milestone of their first day of college. My father immigrated to America not too long ago when the story of Amadou Diallo came out. He was shot on Feb 4 by New York City police officers. Which oddly enough is the day I am submitting a blog post.
My father was similar to Amadou Diallo in many ways. He loved his family and wanted to create a better life for them. They were both immigrants from a continent filled with rich beauty and history. But due to the effects of European colonization their countries were never able to fully develop. So they immigrated to America. America, the country where many would say is a land of freedom, rooted injustice. My father told me that he remembers the story. Amadou Diallo was shot 41 times. He was standing near his building and these officers who were dressed normally shot him because they mistook him for a serial rapist.
When my father told me about Amadou Diallo I could not believe it. Why? Is the question I often found myself asking. I could not fathom how police officers could shoot not once but 41 times. Police officers who were supposed to try and make the city safe and protect its people. It became clear to me while learning about Amadou Diallo that there needs to be a lot of work done. It is not just about the figures we talk about in the news perpetuating the cycle of injustice and inequality but this carelessness of Black and Brown lives is due to this system that this country was founded on. It is rooted in our education, housing, government, it is rooted in our everyday lives. We need to work to dismantle it and it is not just about educating these police officers but actually seeking and making sure that justice is served in these cases of police brutality.
After hearing this story I personally have never heard guns until this one summer night. It was during Ramadan. My family and I were eating suhoor. We were laughing and I remember it like it was yesterday. There were multiple gunshots fired in my apartment building so close to our home. I remember the utter silence and my family telling us to pack up the food. We were all quiet. We were afraid. We later learned that a pregnant lady had been shot by a man in the building. Later that morning I had seen the blood at the end of the staircase. I was horrified.
It was at that moment that I knew that we needed to start to do work in the area of gun violence because people were losing their lives every day. What I want people to understand from reading my personal experiences related to gun violence is that gun violence is not about what side of the party you are on, it is not about taking away your right to a safe and secure environment, it is about the LIVES. The lives that are lost everyday. Gun violence comes in every form. Not just gang violence, there's domestic abuse, police brutality, school shootings, mass shootings. But the result is the same in the end. In the end, we lose a valuable life that could. A life that had dreams, goals, and ambitions. A life that deserved to be loved but instead was taken.
I encourage you all to share your stories, advocate and write letters, speak to your elected officials, vote, talk to community organizations, put in the groundwork because every life is vital and important.