Graphic from a May 8, 2023 report on ABC News.
While news of mass shootings, such as the July 3 shooting deaths of five men in Philadelphia, mirror the rash of shootings in 2022 and dominate media feeds, community gun violence takes more lives and impacts more people in the United States.
This week the PACEs Connection podcast History. Culture. Trauma, again focuses on gun violence in America, with a conversation departing from the focus on mass shootings, to instead look at community violence and solutions to community violence with policy analyst and activist Timothy Hughes.
“Whereas, active shooter situations and school shootings tend to dominate our mainstream news outlets, community gun violence is often not given as much attention,” said Ingrid Cockhren, PACEs Connection CEO and co-host of the podcast.
“Community violence overwhelmingly impacts low-income communities and communities of color. Mainstream news coverage of this type of violence seldom focuses on mental health, trauma or even real solutions. Instead, violence in these communities is often viewed through the lens of culture.” said Cockhren.
Hughes, who currently serves as a policy consultant at Black Clergy Collaborative of Memphis, is also commentator, columnist, community organizer, educator, human rights advocate, and public intellectual. He works at the intersection of public policy and social justice and has been involved with Gideon's Army in Nashville, Tennessee, and their group of community members called Violence Interrupters.
Hughes appeared in a PACEs Connection webinar about gun violence with Cockhren, who hosted several 2022 events to explore gun violence, including the first episode of the History, Culture, Trauma podcast in which she and PACEs Connection founder and publisher Jane Stevens discussed “How the News Media Suck at Violence Reporting” and how “integrating knowledge of the science of positive and adverse childhood experiences could help reduce and prevent violence,(and) help reduce systemic racism and its effects.”
“In this year (2023), there have been more mass shootings in America than in any other year on record. As of May 8, 2023, there had been 131 mass shootings with four or more people wounded or killed so far as compared to 113 at the same time last year. Since 2020, America has been ravaged by a pandemic and endured political divide, nationwide protests and civil unrest. It is apparent that the collective traumas have accelerated America's already dire gun violence crisis,” said Cockhren.
According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and reported in March by CNN, firearms have been the leading cause of death for US children and teens since 2020, representing 19% of all deaths for children 18 years and younger in 2021.
Tune in Thursday at 1 p.m. PT; 4 p.m. ET, to hear more of the discussion on the community gun violence as a social justice issue, and ways to reduce community gun violence.
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