Gun force in Americahas explode since the showtime of the COVID-19 pandemic , and the victims of deadly shootings are disproportionatelyyoung and Black .
In 2020 , for the first time ever , piece deathsoutpaced automobile accidents as the leading grounds of death among children 1 to 19 twelvemonth of age , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . And blackened teens are the firmly hit . Of all Black teenagers ( 15 - 19 ) who snuff it in 2020 , more than one-half were victim of gun ferocity , according toa 2022 reportfrom the John Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions .
" African American youth are 20 metre more potential than their peers to die from gun violence , " sound out Joshua Byrd , frailty president ofHawque Protection Groupand deplorable justice professor at American InterContinental University , both in Atlanta . " Gun ferocity is at an all - time gamey in Atlanta . "
Byrd also is the commission chair of100 Black Men of Atlanta , a nonprofit mentoring and education brass that recently found theAnti - Gun Violence Committee . It ’s a public awareness task direct at teachingde - escalation strategiesto untried people in Atlanta ’s most at - risk of infection communities .
" What I learn the Thomas Kyd is that you need to survive and you want to make it home , " says Byrd , who grow up in some of those same hard - hit Atlanta neighborhoods . " I often order them , ' Winning a fight is actually losing your life . ' You might win the verbal argument , but a spate of folks do n’t take that well , and gun for hire violence is the next pace . "
The ’90s Are Back, in a Bad Way
This is n’t the first time that Atlanta — or other major cities — has face up a gun violence crisis . Back in the nineties during the crack cocaine epidemic , deadly shootingswere a fact of lifespan . Byrd witnessed his first shooting when he was just 7 years previous and living in Techwood Homes , thefirst public housingproject in the country .
" The thing I retrieve more than anything was , as the guy lay in the dry land dying , everybody just continued on with life , " says Byrd . " Crime was so rearing and mistrust of the police was so high that nobody ran in spite of appearance to call the cops . “Techwood Homes was demolishedin preparation for the 1996 Olympic Games because it was considered so severe and rundown .
Today , Atlanta is in the bobby pin of a gun culture in which even the pettiest argument can quickly intensify to murder . In June 2022 , customershot two employeesat a Subway near Mercedes - Benz Stadium , killing one , because he say they put too much mayonnaise on his sandwich . As of mid - July , the Atlanta Police Department had investigatednearly 90 homicides , a substantial increase over 2021 .
Byrd , a former Marine and police police officer , says that a caboodle of broker are contributing to the skyrocketing gunman violence in Atlanta , including an influx of raw people to the city , pathetic constabulary - community sex act and anew Georgia lawthat allow resident tocarry a concealed weaponwithout a permission .
During the last gun furiousness epidemic in the 1990s , the 100 Black Men of Atlanta launched a successful anti - violence public awareness campaign with billboards , T - shirt and marches across the metropolis . Facing a standardized crisis today , the organization apply for a $ 15,000 assignment from Georgia Power to relaunch its 1990s - era campaign with a new focus on enlisting Atlanta ’s youth to exchange the city ’s deathly gun polish .
De-escalate or Die
Byrd says that there are three components to his organisation ’s Anti - Gun Violence initiative :
Delaware - escalation mean using your communication skills to turn down the heat of a disagreement or conflict before it becomes vehement . Byrd hollo it " verbal judo , " a mention to the style of martial art get it on as the " soft way . "
With his desktop in law enforcement and criminal justice and his firsthand experience growing up in Atlanta ’s gun culture , Byrd was the ideal person to lead the de - escalation training , but that does n’t make the job easy .
" Many of these student have never left their ZIP code , " he Byrd . " If you ask them if there ’s another means to solve a difference of opinion , they usually say no because their universe of possibility is so limited . They only know how to deal with only one eccentric of individual , and those interactions ordinarily escalate quickly . "
Through a series of 12 , two - 60 minutes sessions , Byrd tries to reach the students ' mind to a unlike type of difference solvent build around treating multitude with lordliness , civility and respectfulness .
" Sometimes it ’s pridefulness that get in the way , " Byrd sound out . " Sometimes it ’s acquire an logical argument . But in the face of a gun , none of that matters . It ’s about thinking before you act and choose your countersign carefully . What are the things you may do and say to calm the other soul down and calm yourself down ? "
Does the Training Work?
Studies on how well de - escalation preparation works for teens are difficult to come by . Most of the inquiry to date has been carry in the area of nursing and psychiatry . And while there is plenty of anecdotal and testimonial information , the empirical and value - based grounds on whether Delaware - escalation grooming worksjust is n’t there — yet .
grounds or not , that does n’t matter to Byrd . One of the reasons that even the most questioning scholar listen to Byrd is because he ’s been in their shoes .
" In high school , a hombre pull a triggerman on me during an argument over a girl I was date , " say Byrd . " I did everything I now teach my pupil not to do . I cussed him out . I dared him to pull the trigger . Fortunately I outlive . That ’s why I ’m doing this . I ’m just trying to save myself , seek to make an impingement in the life story of people who are grow up in my same circumstances . "
The Duncan Grant from Georgia Power funded de - escalation education in two schools , but Byrd hopes that extra financial support will allow the 100 Black Men of Atlanta to allow conflict resolve training in many more Atlanta metro public school .
