Commentary: If we want to end gun violence, we need to change the narratives

A man was recently shot and killed in Dorchester after an hours-long stand-off with Boston police. The unidentified shooter reportedly suffered from mental illness and, for a host of reasons, he wasn’t receiving the care he needed. His ability to access a firearm made for a horrible combination in which he fired on police officers who ended the siege by ending his life. Now, a grieving and broken family is left behind, several police officers are suffering physical pain of their injuries and psychological pain of ending a life, and like many stories before his, this one is only partially told.

Read the full article in the Dorchester Reporter.

High Poverty Rates Linked to More Gun Deaths in Young People

NEW from THE TRACE: Baltimore’s crime plan is missing a key component: community buy-in. Focused deterrence aims to reduce violent crimes by offering those closest to the front lines a choice: Stop the violence and accept assistance with housing, employment, addiction and counseling, or face severe legal consequences. 

Read the full article in the Trace

New initiative ‘Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence’ launches two undergraduate courses

Emerson’s Engagement Lab is launching a new three-year initiative titled “Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence” in partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Gun Violence Prevention and the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, beginning this spring. 

The initiative is holding its official launch event on Thursday from 2-3 p.m. over Zoom, which will feature guest speakers like Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell, Interim President Bill Gilligan, and President of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute Clementina Chery. 

Read the full article in the Berkley Beacon.

Emerson College, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, Center for Gun Violence Prevention at MGH Announce Transformative Collaboration to Change Narratives around Gun Violence; Launch Event on December 2

Three-year initiative is rooted in multi-disciplinary studio classes through Emerson’s Engagement Lab, community collaboration

BOSTON, MA (November 22, 2021) –  Emerson College, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), and the Center for Gun Violence Prevention at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) announce a new collaboration to transform the narratives around gun violence, launching the initiative virtually on Thursday, December 2, at 2 p.m. The three-year, Boston-based collaboration will explore the incomplete narratives around the gun violence crisis and is determined through a collaborative venture, to model a new approach through interventions within media, arts, and communication and by centering those communities most impacted by this crisis. 

On December 2, community members, faculty, institutional partners, and advocates will join event speakers to launch the initiative: Eric Gordon (Professor and Director of the Engagement Lab at Emerson College), David F. M. Brown, MD (President of Massachusetts General Hospital), Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Andrea Campbell (Boston City Councilor), Peter Masiakos, MD and Chana Sacks, MD, MPH (Co-directors of the MGH Center for Gun Violence Prevention), Chaplain Clementina Chéry (President of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute), and William Gilligan (Interim President of Emerson College).

“Together we will explore the roles of local news and reporting, place-based media art, participatory documentary, storytelling, performing arts, and social media influencers on transforming those narratives around gun violence,” said Eric Gordon, Director of the Engagement Lab at Emerson College, which has created three new studio courses for the Spring semester that will support this initiative.

Gun violence is a pervasive public health crisis in this country. Forty-four percent of Americans today know someone who has been shot, and nearly every American will know someone who has been shot during their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How do we understand the impact of gun violence on individuals, families, and communities? What are their stories, and are these narratives told with dignity, and urgency, or have we as a society normalized them?

“All of us share an obligation to understand the causes and social determinants of these devastating injuries – and to prevent them from occurring,” said Masiakos, director of MGH Pediatric Trauma Services. “Health care providers talk about gun violence being our lane, but we cannot ignore the people in the middle of the highway being hit by trucks day after day. Telling these stories in authentic and compelling ways will have a profound impact on the way our society embraces and addresses this public health epidemic.”

“When we think about sustainable change and shifting the narrative it is done through partnerships like this, where intervention and education is taking place at multiple levels. The investment in proximity is a vital piece to this partnership and I am eager to see this long standing vision of the LDBPI come to fruition,” said Chaplain Clementina Chéry, President/CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute.

Aiming to create a continuum of change, Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence will engage in open exploration through sustained partnerships with community-based organizations on the ground working for gun violence prevention, advocacy, and victim support services. Students enrolled in multi-disciplinary studio classes at Emerson College’s Engagement Lab will work alongside community partners to transform narratives of gun violence in Boston by understanding and representing the social complexity of the problem. Together, they will explore the roles of local news and reporting, place-based media art, participatory documentary, storytelling, performing arts, and social media influencers on transforming those narratives. 

Through a collaborative design approach, this initiative will center those most impacted by the effects of gun violence in the exploration and creation of narrative interventions to restore urgency, dignity, and humanity to this pervasive issue.  

About Emerson College

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning. The College has 3,700 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students from across the United States and 50 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 90 student organizations and performance groups.

Emerson is known for its experiential learning programs in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, the Netherlands, London, China, and the Czech Republic as well as its new Global Portals. The College has an active network of 51,000 alumni who hold leadership positions in communication and the arts. For more information, visit emerson.edu.

About the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), founded in 1994, is a center of healing, teaching and learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. The vision of the LDBPI is to create and sustain communities where all people are valued and all families can live in peace. The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute’s programs and services are grounded in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) social-ecological framework that interventions are needed at multiple levels to interrupt cycles of violence. The heart of their work is with families impacted by murder on both sides. Their impact extends to community and society through services, advocacy and training.

About the Center for Gun Violence Prevention at Massachusetts General Hospital

The Center for Gun Violence Prevention is a multidisciplinary initiative at Massachusetts General Hospital dedicated to preventing firearm-related violence and promoting safety in the homes and communities of the patients we serve. The Center focuses on reducing injuries and deaths related to firearms and promoting safety in the home and in the community through clinical care and education, community engagement and research.

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Louis D. Brown Peace Institute to Honor 21st Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month (SHVAM)

The Annual Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month (SHVAM) was created to educate the public and policymakers about the impact of murder on families and communities and uplift the peace-building efforts of Survivors of Homicide Victims.

BOSTON, MA – The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI) will host a virtual ceremony to kickoff the 21st Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month (SHVAM) on Friday, November 19 at 10 a.m. The event will be streamed online and can be viewed via Facebook and the website.

During the ceremony, LDBPI will recognize Rahsaan Peters, this year’s Inform, Influence, and Impact awardee from Boston. Rahsaan is a Violence Recovery Advocate/Coordinator at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), working to provide support to patients and families admitted to BWH as a result of physical trauma. Rahsaan is one of the most compassionate and dedicated advocates in this work of serving families of homicide victims and his community. Rahsaan’s ability to make connections, collaborate and meet the family’s needs far exceeds the call of duty. From his advocacy within his role at BWH to the ground work with survivors, these are some of the reasons why we honor Rahsaan Peters with the Inform, Influence, Impact Award.

“Families and communities impacted by homicide deserve services, support resources, and to be treated with compassion and dignity. This ceremony recognizes those in our community who have been affected by the ongoing violence of the current homicide rates in the country,” said LDBPI President & CEO Chaplain Clementina (Tina) Chéry. “We welcome neighbors and friends in the Boston area to join the celebration and honor our survivors.”

WHO: 

  • Louis D. Brown Peace Institute 
  • Survivors of Homicide Victims Network
  • Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)
  • State Senator Nick Collins 
  • Rahsaan Peters, Inform, Influence, and Impact awardee

WHAT: Virtual ceremony to recognize Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month, which was enacted in 2000 to educate the public and policymakers about the impact of murder on families and communities and uplift the peace-building efforts of survivors.

WHEN: Friday, November 19 from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: Facebook: @LDBPeaceInstitute

WHY: Homicide rates in the United States are steeply rising, and 2020 saw the largest rise in homicides within the country in the past 100 years. Each homicide leaves behind survivors who must navigate the process of grief and loss. These friends, family neighbors, and community members need resources to provide a critical sense of stability and support regardless of circumstances. 

The LDBPI works closely with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Boston Police Department Homicide Unit, the Boston Public Health Commission, and Boston’s Neighborhood Trauma Teams to ensure Survivors of Homicide Victims receive meaningful and compassionate support while experiencing the impacts of murder, trauma, grief and loss. 

The kickoff ceremony is to serve as a reminder that survivors are still here, standing in solidarity and working towards positive change in public policy, social justice, and stability. The event will also discuss the broad impact of murder, trauma, grief and loss and share how the LDBPI works to provide important resources and uplift communities with peace-building efforts in partnership with local and government agencies.  

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About the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute 

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), founded in 1994, after the murder of 15 year old Louis D. Brown, serves as a Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. The vision of the LDBPI is to create and sustain an environment where all people are valued and all families can live in peace. Additional information is available at www.LDBpeaceinstitute.org.

Two staff members take on lead roles at the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

Two long-time staff members at the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute — Alexandra Chéry Dorrelus and Rachel Rodrigues— have taken charge as co-directors of the Fields Corner-based organization that works to change society’s response to homicide and promote healing for homicide survivors and perpetrators and their families.

The institute was founded by Joseph and Clementina ‘Tina’ Chéry in 1994 to memorialize their late son, Louis D. Brown, who was killed in a shooting on Geneva Avenue in December 1993. Chéry Dorrelus, Louis’s younger sister, and Rodrigues have both been with the organization for more than fifteen years. They join Clementina ‘Tina’ Chéry, the group’s president and CEO, in the leadership roles.

Read the full article in the Dorchester Reporter.

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute Announces Alexandra Chéry Dorrelus and Rachel Rodrigues as New Co-Directors

BOSTON, MA – The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI) recently announced the appointment of its new co-directors, Alexandra Chéry Dorrelus and Rachel Rodrigues. The two transitioned into the role after dedicating years to the organization. 

“We are delighted to embrace Alexandra and Rachel into their new roles as Co-Directors. Alexandra and Rachel have shown great leadership in the organization while uplifting and supporting survivors of homicide victims experiencing the impacts of murder, trauma, grief and loss,” said LDBPI Founder, President & CEO Chaplain Clementina Chéry. “We invite our friends to join us in celebrating Alexandra and Rachel as they embark on a new journey to further serve communities and families impacted by homicide.

The Director of Reentry Services, Milton Jones highlights that “Alexandra and Rachel intentionally sought to learn. In fact, they embody the very mission of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute which is to serve as a center of healing, teaching, and learning. They listened to learn, they learned to teach, and they taught to heal. They are poised and fit to lead this organization so that the work continues.”

Alexandra Chéry Dorrelus has been an active organizer since the age of 16 where she started her work as a youth organizer with the Breath of Life Dorchester (BOLD) Teens, advocating for social and environmental justice. Over the years, she has held many roles within LDBPI, including volunteer, consultant, advocate and Director of Programs and Training. As the sister of Louis D. Brown, Chéry Dorrelus is deeply connected to LDBPI’s mission and upholding the legacy of her brother.

“Families of homicide victims everywhere deserve to have their emotional, practical and emergency financial needs met so that they may be free to healthily grieve and transform their pain,” said Dorrelus. “Since 1994, LDBPI has developed best practices and I am proud to continue this legacy.” 

Rachel Rodrigues first joined LDBPI as an intern while attending college. After volunteering with LDBPI post-graduation, Rodrigues adopted the role of Program Coordinator. She then served as LDBPI’s Administrative Director. Rodrigues has provided valuable resources to survivors of homicide victims in various roles over the past fifteen years. Some of her focuses include fostering equity, inclusion, and strategic growth.

“The work we do at the LDBPI is critical to healing our communities,” said Rodrigues. “I’m honored to have been trusted all these years and am excited to build more infrastructure that supports our growth and keeps our staff in the work for decades to come.” 

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About the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute 

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), founded in 1994, after the murder of 15 year old Louis D. Brown serves a Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. The vision of the LDBPI is to create and sustain an environment where all people are valued and all families can live in peace. Additional information is available at www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org.

Justice for Housing, Inc, Jamaica Plain-Based Organization Awarded Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant

Boston, MA – Justice for Housing, Inc, a Jamaica Plain-based organization, was recently awarded the Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant. e grant, awarded by the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), seeks to provide survivor led organizations with financial support for operating and program expenses, and/or capacity building. Justice for Housing, Inc, plans to use $5,000 for the purpose of crisis prevention workshops and training and community outreach and materials.

Read the full article in Statehouse News

Vision-Picture Your Future, Inc. of Boston Awarded Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant

Boston, MA – Vision-Picture Your Future, Inc. was recently awarded the Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant. The grant, awarded by the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), seeks to provide financial support for operating and program expenses, and/or capacity building. Vision-Picture Your Future, Inc. plans to use $5,000 for the purpose of community driving, music, and fashion programs and materials. Vision-Picture Your Future, Inc. also graciously donated school supplies for kids at LDBPI’s annual Peace BQue. 

The Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant supports survivors of homicide victims running direct service programs, holding awareness-raising events, offering leadership development opportunities to engage fellow survivors in peacemaking, coordinating trainings, and leading advocacy work on issues facing families impacted by murder. Thanks to elected leaders at the State House for their steadfast support of survivors network and the work of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. It is thanks to their leadership that we are able to deliver mini-grants to the statewide survivor network through funding provided in the state budget.

“The past year has been tumultuous for our communities and this year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes affecting our communities, including social justice, affordable housing, education, and crisis prevention,” said Chaplain Clementina Chéry, President & CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to give back to organizations and scholarship foundations making a difference. Losing a loved one can be strenuous, but these recipients are making a real change because of their experiences with homicide.”

Other awardees include: 

  • Justice for Housing, Inc was awarded $5,000 for the purpose of crisis prevention workshops and training and community outreach and materials. 

  • Jermall Fonté Williams Scholarship Foundation was awarded $5,000 for the scholarship’s Memorial Banquet & Fundraiser event – equipping children for success through education and sports.

  • James Jimmy Flint Scholarship Foundation was awarded $4,100 for the scholarship’s ceremony celebrating the awardees.

  • All Things Art, Inc was awarded $4,950 for the purpose of Crisis Prevention, Workshops and Trainings & Community Outreach and materials. 

To learn more about the Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant, visit the website at www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org/inform-influence-impact-grant/.

 

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About the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute 

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), founded in 1994, after the murder of 15 year old Louis D. Brown serves a Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. The vision of the LDBPI is to create and sustain an environment where all people are valued and all families can live in peace. Additional information is available at www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org.

James Jimmy Flint Scholarship Foundation, Boston-Based Organization Awarded Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant

Boston, MA – The James Jimmy Flint Scholarship Foundation, a Boston-based organization, was recently awarded the Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant. The grant, awarded by the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), seeks to provide financial support for operating and program expenses, and/or capacity building. The James Jimmy Flint Scholarship Foundation plans to use $4,100 for the scholarship’s ceremony celebrating the awardees.

The Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant supports survivors of homicide victims running direct service programs, holding awareness-raising events, offering leadership development opportunities to engage fellow survivors in peacemaking, coordinating trainings, and leading advocacy work on issues facing families impacted by murder. Thanks to elected leaders at the State House for their steadfast support of survivors network and the work of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. It is thanks to their leadership that we are able to deliver mini-grants to the statewide survivor network through funding provided in the state budget.

“The past year has been tumultuous for our communities and this year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes affecting our communities, including social justice, affordable housing, education, and crisis prevention,” said Chaplain Clementina Chéry, President & CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to give back to organizations and scholarship foundations making a difference. Losing a loved one can be strenuous, but these recipients are making a real change because of their experiences with homicide.”

Other awardees include: 

  • Justice for Housing, Inc was awarded $5,000 for the purpose of crisis prevention workshops and training and community outreach and materials. 

  • Jermall Fonté Williams Scholarship Foundation was awarded $5,000 for the scholarship’s Memorial Banquet & Fundraiser event – equipping children for success through education and sports.

  • Vision-Picture Your Future, Inc. was awarded $5,000 for the purpose of community driving, music, and fashion programs and materials. Additionally, Vision-Picture Your Future, Inc. graciously donated school supplies for kids at LDBPI’s annual Peace BQue.

  • All Things Art, Inc was awarded $4,950 for the purpose of Crisis Prevention, Workshops and Trainings & Community Outreach and materials. 

To learn more about the Inform, Influence, and Impact Grant, visit the website at www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org/inform-influence-impact-grant/.

 

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About the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute 

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), founded in 1994, after the murder of 15 year old Louis D. Brown serves a Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. The vision of the LDBPI is to create and sustain an environment where all people are valued and all families can live in peace. Additional information is available at www.ldbpeaceinstitute.org.