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Yearbook Project Collects Stories of Children Killed in Shootings Yearbook Project Collects Stories of Children Killed in Shootings
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Somewhere out of sight in Shenee Johnson’s home on Long Island — tucked away in a closet or hidden beneath a bed, perhaps — is a copy of her son Kedrick Morrow’s high school yearbook.Somewhere out of sight in Shenee Johnson’s home on Long Island — tucked away in a closet or hidden beneath a bed, perhaps — is a copy of her son Kedrick Morrow’s high school yearbook.
Ms. Johnson does not know exactly where the book ended up and she does not care to find out, but inside it, she has been told, Kedrick is smiling amid a gallery of portraits — hundreds of students bracing themselves for a future her son would never see. Weeks before he was to graduate from Elmont High School in 2010, Kedrick was shot to death outside a party in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood of Queens. He was 17, bound for St. John’s University.Ms. Johnson does not know exactly where the book ended up and she does not care to find out, but inside it, she has been told, Kedrick is smiling amid a gallery of portraits — hundreds of students bracing themselves for a future her son would never see. Weeks before he was to graduate from Elmont High School in 2010, Kedrick was shot to death outside a party in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood of Queens. He was 17, bound for St. John’s University.
Since then, graduation season, with its cavalcade of mortarboard-toting students, has served as a searing reminder of Kedrick’s killing, but this year Ms. Johnson is hoping it might also bring some measure of redress. She and other parents of children killed by gun violence recently joined together through the organization New Yorkers Against Gun Violence to create a yearbook that is meant to draw attention to the toll of gun violence on young people.Since then, graduation season, with its cavalcade of mortarboard-toting students, has served as a searing reminder of Kedrick’s killing, but this year Ms. Johnson is hoping it might also bring some measure of redress. She and other parents of children killed by gun violence recently joined together through the organization New Yorkers Against Gun Violence to create a yearbook that is meant to draw attention to the toll of gun violence on young people.
The yearbook, a digital version of which is available at signtheiryearbook.com, is filled with the stories and photographs of young victims of gun violence and serves a dual purpose as a petition for universal firearm background checks that the group plans to deliver to Congress in the fall. More than 2,300 people have signed it in the past month.The yearbook, a digital version of which is available at signtheiryearbook.com, is filled with the stories and photographs of young victims of gun violence and serves a dual purpose as a petition for universal firearm background checks that the group plans to deliver to Congress in the fall. More than 2,300 people have signed it in the past month.
“Gun violence is so political that people sometimes forget it’s also personal,” Ms. Johnson, 42, said. “They forget about the loved ones we lost and the lives we have to piece back together. But Kedrick was a real live person.”“Gun violence is so political that people sometimes forget it’s also personal,” Ms. Johnson, 42, said. “They forget about the loved ones we lost and the lives we have to piece back together. But Kedrick was a real live person.”
The yearbook features only 11 stories, out of the 31,104 children under the age of 18 who were killed in firearm-related episodes between 1999 and 2014 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,111 of them in New York State. With the passage of the SAFE Act, signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, in 2013, New York has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, including an expanded ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, broader background checks, and stiffer penalties for people who use guns in the commission of crimes.The yearbook features only 11 stories, out of the 31,104 children under the age of 18 who were killed in firearm-related episodes between 1999 and 2014 in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,111 of them in New York State. With the passage of the SAFE Act, signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, in 2013, New York has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, including an expanded ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, broader background checks, and stiffer penalties for people who use guns in the commission of crimes.
Still, without comprehensive federal legislation, gun safety advocates say, firearms are regularly transported into New York from states with looser oversight. In the week after the massacre in Orlando, Fla., in which 49 people were killed at a nightclub, congressional Democrats have redoubled their efforts to enact more stringent gun control laws, but several mass shootings have occurred without legislative response.Still, without comprehensive federal legislation, gun safety advocates say, firearms are regularly transported into New York from states with looser oversight. In the week after the massacre in Orlando, Fla., in which 49 people were killed at a nightclub, congressional Democrats have redoubled their efforts to enact more stringent gun control laws, but several mass shootings have occurred without legislative response.
“We’d like to see at the federal level what we have here in New York,” said Leah Gunn Barrett, the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. “The circumstances behind almost every story in the yearbook are easy access to firearms. We hope that profiles of these young people and all their lost potential will move Congress to actually do something.”“We’d like to see at the federal level what we have here in New York,” said Leah Gunn Barrett, the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. “The circumstances behind almost every story in the yearbook are easy access to firearms. We hope that profiles of these young people and all their lost potential will move Congress to actually do something.”
Without the captions, it would be easy to mistake the photographs in the yearbook as evidence of lives on the cusp of adulthood. The pages include profiles of Alphonza C. Bryant III, a 17-year-old honor student from the Bronx, who was killed months shy of his graduation in 2013 by gang members in search of someone else; Nicholas Naumkin, a 12-year-old from Saratoga Springs known for giving his allowance to charity, accidentally killed by a friend playing with a friend’s father’s gun in 2010; and Michael Graham, a 13-year-old from Brewster, who used his father’s gun to take his own life in 2013.Without the captions, it would be easy to mistake the photographs in the yearbook as evidence of lives on the cusp of adulthood. The pages include profiles of Alphonza C. Bryant III, a 17-year-old honor student from the Bronx, who was killed months shy of his graduation in 2013 by gang members in search of someone else; Nicholas Naumkin, a 12-year-old from Saratoga Springs known for giving his allowance to charity, accidentally killed by a friend playing with a friend’s father’s gun in 2010; and Michael Graham, a 13-year-old from Brewster, who used his father’s gun to take his own life in 2013.
For some parents involved, this is hardly their first advocacy effort. Over a decade has passed since Taisha Pearson’s 10-year-old daughter, Naiesha, was killed by a stray bullet at a neighborhood barbecue in the Bronx, and she has participated in marches, rallies and petitions. Progress has come in fits and starts, and the work of recounting her most painful memories for public consumption can be grueling.For some parents involved, this is hardly their first advocacy effort. Over a decade has passed since Taisha Pearson’s 10-year-old daughter, Naiesha, was killed by a stray bullet at a neighborhood barbecue in the Bronx, and she has participated in marches, rallies and petitions. Progress has come in fits and starts, and the work of recounting her most painful memories for public consumption can be grueling.
“We’ve seen some changes, but there are still so many loopholes; it’s an uphill battle,” Ms. Pearson, 37, said. “Sometimes I feel like we’re going nowhere, but what else am I supposed to do?”“We’ve seen some changes, but there are still so many loopholes; it’s an uphill battle,” Ms. Pearson, 37, said. “Sometimes I feel like we’re going nowhere, but what else am I supposed to do?”
Advocacy has served as a form of therapy for Natasha Christopher, 42. Her son Akeal was shot in the head while walking to a friend’s house in Bushwick, Brooklyn, in June 2012. An aspiring train engineer, he died on his 15th birthday. Ms. Christopher is now a full-time volunteer for gun-control organizations, telling her story as many as a dozen times each week.Advocacy has served as a form of therapy for Natasha Christopher, 42. Her son Akeal was shot in the head while walking to a friend’s house in Bushwick, Brooklyn, in June 2012. An aspiring train engineer, he died on his 15th birthday. Ms. Christopher is now a full-time volunteer for gun-control organizations, telling her story as many as a dozen times each week.
“Everyone else is preparing for prom and graduation, and here I am putting together a candlelight vigil for my boy,” she said. “This is my life now. I’ve turned my pain into action.”“Everyone else is preparing for prom and graduation, and here I am putting together a candlelight vigil for my boy,” she said. “This is my life now. I’ve turned my pain into action.”
After her son’s death, Ms. Christopher moved to a new apartment in Jamaica, Queens, and took down all of the photos of Akeal. Her other sons, Rashawn and Christopher, simply could not bear to see the images. Still, she has kept a single drawer filled with some of Akeal’s belongings. A navy tennis shirt still smells of his favorite cologne, and Ms. Johnson is comforted by it. After her son’s death, Ms. Christopher moved to a new apartment in Jamaica, Queens, and took down all of the photos of Akeal. Her other sons, Rashawn and Christopher, simply could not bear to see the images. Still, she has kept a single drawer filled with some of Akeal’s belongings. A navy tennis shirt still smells of his favorite cologne, and Ms. Christopher is comforted by it.
On a recent afternoon, a wide smile spread across her face as she lifted the fabric to her nose. Then, noticing the time, Ms. Johnson tucked the shirt back into the drawer and composed herself. Her sons would be returning from school soon, and she did not want them to see her grieving. On a recent afternoon, a wide smile spread across her face as she lifted the fabric to her nose. Then, noticing the time, Ms. Christopher tucked the shirt back into the drawer and composed herself. Her sons would be returning from school soon, and she did not want them to see her grieving.
“Now I’m just looking forward to Rashawn’s graduation in a few years,” she said. “I just pray nothing happens to him before that day.”“Now I’m just looking forward to Rashawn’s graduation in a few years,” she said. “I just pray nothing happens to him before that day.”