Project H.O.O.D. and Gun Safety Alliance partnered to launch the Pre-Morial Fund, a campaign aimed to raise awareness of gun violence and prevention. Gun Safety Alliance is a collective of business owners on a mission to reduce gun violence by 2030. Greg Kahn of Gun Safety Alliance says the Pre-Morial Fund aims to address the violence before it happens.
“We launched the Pre-Morial Fund in the Chicago community to help reduce the deaths and to address the issue before there are shootings,” says Kahn. Every year 33,000 people die from gun violence in the U.S.”
Pastor Corey Brooks, the founder of Project H.O.O.D., said of the partnership. “It’s very difficult to do anything alone, so we wanted to partner with like-minded individuals with the same mission to put an end to gun violence.” In 2011, Pastor Brooks slept on the rooftop of an abandoned motel for three months. This gesture was to raise awareness of gun violence on Chicago’s Southside.
Since the start of 2021, the city of Chicago has reported over 2,000 shootings. Pastor Brooks says what the city is dealing with is “wickedness.” “We need to come to grips that we’re dealing with rampant wickedness. We are dealing with serial killers. The fact that the community is not taking the responsibility of turning these people in hinders our progress of getting rid of the violence.”
Chicago’s most violent weekend of 2021 came during the Fourth of July weekend. Over the weekend, 100 reported shootings took place across the city. The shootings left at least 19 people dead, and 13 children injured. “We have to do a better job as a community of coming together,” says Pastor Brooks.
“There’s not enough focus on the Black and Brown communities in the inner cities,” says Greg Kahn. “Last year, gun violence was the leading death of young Black males. We found there needs to be a specific and funded approach to help reduce the challenges of our inner cities such as the high incarceration rates, lack of education, and economic opportunities. In addition, we must help with family support and effective safety in the community. That’s what we’re focused on with the Pre-Morial Fund.”
For more information on Project H.O.O.D. and Gun Safety Alliance Pre-Morial Fund, click here.
Ali Bouldin is a freelance writer within the Black and Hip-Hop culture with featured articles in multiple publications. Follow his Instagram @Choose_Wisey2.
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