The dialog, Hicks says, was a breakthrough after a lot silence: “It is arduous to discover a gentle on the finish of the tunnel,” she says of her grief. However when she spoke about it together with her grandmother, “for a second, it was there. It was one thing.”
‘D.C. has lengthy struggled with one of many highest charges of gun violence within the nation. The district noticed 198 homicides in 2020, a 16-year-high, and the 2021 murder charge is already outpacing 2020.
Harrison, Hicks and Wells wished their podcast to point out that it is not simply concerning the numbers. Actual individuals are impacted by each life misplaced to gun violence, so the scholars talked to 3 of them: first, Darlene Hazel, Hicks’ grandmother. Then one among Harrison’s mates, Jayla Faust, who misplaced her stepfather to gun violence.
By the podcast, Harrison explains she wished to offer households an opportunity to talk.
“It is vital for the people who find themselves affected by it to have the ability to communicate as a result of I really feel like quite a lot of instances the federal government is talking for them,” Harrison says. “These are the individuals that really should undergo this.”
The ultimate interview within the podcast is with RuQuan Brown. Now a soccer participant at Harvard College, however within the podcast, he says he did not all the time know if he would make it to school.
“I’d stroll down Florida Ave on my approach again residence and I’d cry some nights as a result of I used to be afraid I would not make it to school as a result of I might be killed,” he tells Harrison.
His concern of whether or not he would survive in D.C. is a really actual concern amongst his friends.
Harrison thinks about 18-year-old Richard Bangura usually nowadays as she begins her first semester at Temple College. Bangura was shot and killed in northeast DC final summer time, days earlier than he was supposed to maneuver into the identical college.
Dropping a liked one to gun violence is painful, however Harrison says the podcast is about what group members take away from that ache, too. “You might have a loss, however due to this loss, you’ve gotten remodeled to a greater individual or have a greater view of life.”
Brown, for instance, handled the grief by creating artwork.
He owns a clothes model, Love1, which donates to communities affected by gun violence. Brown is presently trying to fund remedy for college students in D.C.’s public colleges. He has additionally donated 1000’s of {dollars} to the One Gun Gone undertaking, which repurposes weapons into art work to lift consciousness about gun violence.
“I created this model as a result of I wished to reside,” he says.
Harrison, Hicks and Wells are beginning faculty this fall and hope the teachings they realized from the individuals of their podcast will assist them deal with loss, and challenges, in their very own lives.
Sneha Dey is an intern for NPR’s Training Desk.
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