Gun Violence- Justice for Justin (Jasmine Parker)

Gun Violence

Gun violence is an epidemic in the United States. According to data reports from the National Center for Health Statistics (Murphy, Xu, Kochanek, Curtin, & Arias, 2017), 73% of all homicide deaths in 2016 (17,793) which resulted from a firearm. Even more, the homicide rate for Black Americans in all 50 states is eight times higher than that of Whites (CDC, 2017). In general, U.S. residents are 128 times more likely to be killed by everyday gun violence than by international terrorism; Black people specifically are 500 times more likely to die this way (Xu, Murphy, Kochanek, & Bastian, 2016). Importantly, most urban areas, especially those that experience the most gun violence, are characterized by poverty, inequality, and racial segregation (Sampson, 2013).

·      Black families are disproportionately affected by gun deaths. 

·      More than half (58%) of gun violence victims in the United States are Black, and majority of victims are male. 

·      In 2018, Black males accounted for 91% of Black victims funeralized as a result of gun violence in the United States. Many being unarmed Black men fatally shot by police in the United States.

Impact of Gun Violence

Researchers have that gun violence negatively impacts learning and development, mental health and behavior, and chronic illness. This negative impact consistently links violence exposure with outcomes that predispose individuals to be less likely to be healthy and raise healthy children, less likely to live in safe communities, and less likely to complete their schooling and maintain employment (vcp.org)

Individuals living in communities where violence is prevalent are at increased risk for a broad range of negative health and behavior outcomes. Research suggests that living in violent communities compromises residents’ ability to break intergenerational cycles of violence. Without large-scale interventions, a neighborhood becomes effectively unable to protect itself against a culture that is normed in violence.

Gun Violence as a Social Problem

Many times, stereotypical depictions of Black men especially as perpetrators of violence is visible in media today and has a big influence on social issues from discrimination, racism and violence against African Americans. Much of this behavior is deeply embedded in our history of criminalizing and dehumanizing Black men which is on going in 21st-century. 

The media and social movements play a big role in how news of gun violence is portrayed across the nation. This portrayal in the media continues to negatively affect communities of color by insinuating that the violence occurs only in low-income and racial/ethnic minority communities and perpetuates the myth that gun violence is mainly the result of stereotypes like Black on- Black crime (Voisin, 2011).

Nipsey Hussle

Many influencers and great leaders have fallen victim to gun violence, and some have tremendously impact their communities and others around them.

Remembering Nipsey Hussle

RIP

Social Movements born out of Violence

Movements born from gun violence like "Black Lives Matters" has helped to expand knowledge on social/racial inequality and engage in intense struggle to advance freedom for all black people. BLM is an important movement because it brings awareness, civic action and social change to the black community. Black Lives Matter was established on July 13, 2013, the day that George Zimmerman was acquitted in the murder of Trayvon Martin. Thousands of folks gathered in Leimert Park and the Crenshaw District, then engaged in intuitive organizing, protests, and even shutting down spaces that represented White supremacy, like the Expo train line, the 10 freeway, Hollywood & Highland, and USC. These stressful and traumatic events can also contribute to mental health issues and overall quality of life that is disrupted by emotional changes, and can are passed on through generations (blm.org)

What can you do to help?

·      Be Kind to others 

·      Spread Awareness

·      Resistance/Advocate for social change

·      Take Civic Action

·      Don’t Judge and Don’t Discriminate!

Family support, community intervention, and policy and social change efforts focused on providing support for coping victims. Researchers examining coping behaviors have shown that positive, problem-focused strategies are related to better outcomes (Bryant-Davis et al., 2017). Acknowledge that gun violence in minority neighborhoods is not a Black or Brown problem, but a national problem.

Justice for Justin

Please Watch

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/on-air/who-shot-justin_los-angeles/120479/

Rest In Peace

Resources

Black Lives Matters https://www.blmla.org/herstory (2019). 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Fatal injury reports, national, regional and state, 1981–2016. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Murphy, S. L., Xu, J. Q., Kochanek, K. D., Curtin, S. C., & Arias, E. (2017). Deaths: Final data for 2015. National Vital Statistics Reports, 66(6). Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_06.pdf

The Relationship Between Community Violence and Trauma: How Violence Affects Learning, Health, and Behavior | Español (July 2017)

Voisin, D. R., Bird, J. D., Hardestry, M., & Shiu, C. S. (2011). African American adolescents living and coping with community violence on Chicago’s Southside. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26(12), 2483–2498.