Day-to-Day Gun Violence Deserves Our Attention
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence’s Impacted Community Team is excited to launch “Lives Impacted: Gun Violence Stories from Impacted Communities”, a monthly blog series highlighting this epidemic in the communities most affected, yet rarely discussed.
Last Friday, Clarence Venable was fatally shot leaving a training session on how to become violence interrupter. The program was an effort to take action and reduce the levels of violence in Washington, DC that have been steadily increasing over the past few years. By all media accounts, Clarence was excited about this new position and the opportunity to make a difference in his community.
Sadly, the violence he was seeking to reduce stole his own life. Our hearts go out to Clarence’s family, friends, and community for this horrific tragedy.
We are saddened to say that Clarence’s story is not unique. Nearly 60% of gun homicide victims are Black Americans, despite making up less than 18% of the population. Gun violence is the leading cause of death for Black males under the age of 45. In 2013, a study found that, among Black Americans, the likelihood of having someone in their social network die from gun violence in their lifetime was 95.5%.
These statistics are staggering, yet to so many Americans they are just that. Statistics. Black…
