By Constance Garcia-Barrio
ABOVE Photo credit: “The Pennsylvania Chapter of Moms Demand Action.”
On February 29, Moms Demand Action (MDA) for Gun Sense in America, a grassroots movement that advocates for closing loopholes in gun laws that put families at risk, held a bittersweet ceremony to honor local Black women leading the struggle to stop shootings. The women received roses and a gift bag from MDA officials, which is working toward greater diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Held at Braid Mill, located at 441 E. High St. in Germantown, the ceremony shone a spotlight on the following activists, some of whom have started their own anti-violence groups: Marla Davis Bellamy, JD, director of Philadelphia Ceasefire; the Rev. Jeanette Davis, founder and president of DIVAS Ministry Group; Tahira Fortune, founder of Voices by Choices; Debbie Fortune, community activist; Dorothy Johnson Speight, EdD, founder and executive director of Mothers In Charge (MIC); Chantay Love, co-founder and president of the EMIR Healing Center; Terrez McCleary, founder, Moms Bonded by Grief, and Kendra Van de Water, LSW, co-founder and co-CEO of YEAH Philly. Some of the honorees spoke about harrowing memories surrounding the death of a loved one due to firearms.
Moms Demand Action (MDA) for Gun Sense in America, held a ceremony to honor local Black women (in the photo above) leading the fight against gun violence in their neighborhoods.
Photo by Connie Garcia-Barrio
“I’m a mother of five. Two of my boys were murdered,” Debbie Fortune, an activist, grandmother, and great-grandmother, said tearfully. “One shooting took place in 2012 and another in 2022. “My boys were my world. One of them was trying to defend the block, the seniors [when he was shot].”
“We’ve got to find a way to get the guns off the streets,” added Fortune, whose home has become known as a haven for neighborhood children.
Fortune isn’t grieving alone. MDA provided a statistical snapshot of gun violence in Pennsylvania. Black children in the state, run nine times the risk of being shot to death compared to their white peers, according to numbers MDA gleaned from data from the Center for Disease Control collected between 2018 and 2021. Black people as a whole are 26 times more likely than whites to be fatally shot, according to that source.
In the face of these crushing statistics — and often overwhelming grief — the honorees have shown spectacular resilience. Tahira Fortune, whose son Samir Fortune died in a gunfire attack on the family home, responded by starting Voices by Choices. This nonprofit offers weekly support groups for people affected by gun violence.
Dorothy Johnson Speight, Ed.D, whose son Khaaliq Jabbar Johnson, 24, was shot seven times over a parking space in 2001, launched Mothers in Charge (MIC) in 2003. MIC provides individual and peer grief counseling, among many other services. Headquartered at 990 Spring Garden St., MIC has affiliates in New York, New Jersey, Kansas, and California.
After the awards ceremony, Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of MDA, moderated a panel discussion on the demands of running anti-violence nonprofits. Panelists included Chantay Love of EMIR, Marla Bellamy Davis, of Philadelphia CeaseFire, and Kendra Van de Water, of YEAH Philly.
Each of these nonprofits tackles violence in slightly different ways.
Love co-founded EMIR after her younger brother, Emir, was shot to death in his teens. This organization helps children and adults grieving the loss of a loved one to a shooting or people who have survived being shot themselves.
Davis Bellamy said that Philadelphia CeaseFire centers its efforts on the 14th and 35th Police Districts.
“We work with people deeply involved in violent behavior,” she said. “We also assist people who have a disability as a result of gun violence.”
Van de Water said that YEAH Philly works with youth ages 15 to 24, primarily in West and southwest Philadelphia. Sometimes, young people don’t have a safe place to be, she said.
“We address their immediate needs like food and housing, and then attend to matters like counseling and job training,” Van de Water said. They can learn skills like mediation and conflict resolution. YEAH Philly also helps receive help in navigating the juvenile justice system.”
Love, Davis Bellamy, and Van de Water agreed that the work is as grueling as it is essential. They said it requires so much time and attention that the women must stay mindful of not neglecting their families.
These activists brought up other points. Davis Bellamy stressed the importance of collective effort. Several agencies recently worked together so that within 24 hours, they found an apartment and paid the first month and last month’s rent for a client.
“We didn’t want her to return to court [where she was seeking custody of her children] and say that she had no place to stay,” Davis Bellamy said. “It took a collective effort.”
Love spoke of the need for self-replenishment. “I get it from good food, good music, and good sex with my husband,” she said. She added that self-care includes forgiving yourself when you can’t save a loved one from the streets.
Van de Water said her work isn’t a 9-to-5 job and that emergencies arise. However, she allows herself quiet Wednesdays as a way to restore herself.
Philadelphians can well applaud the achievements of these honorees, but ending gun violence isn’t a spectator sport, Johnson Speight stressed.
“We need to let ourselves feel outraged [from the deaths], then think of a way to become involved,” she said. “Approach a school about becoming a mentor. Volunteer your talents at MIC or other groups. Contact legislators about passing common-sense gun laws. Everyone must find a way to help.”
For more information about Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, visit: www.momsdemandaction.org
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