New Haven Independent

Sixth-Graders Confront Gun Violence

by Elise Granata | June 16, 2009 7:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Nineteen sixth-grade boys were asked: Do you know a family member or friend who has been shot? Fifteen raised their hands.

The five adults dotting the perimenter of the room were no strangers to gun violence, either. Four of the five were New Haven police officers. The fifth was Tracey Suggs, a mother who lost her son Justus in 2006 to a stray gunshot.

The group gathered at Wexler/Grant School Monday to talk about gun violence, and the effect it’s having on kids’ lives. The event was organized by the community group CTribat as part of Gun Violence Awareness Month, which began Saturday.

The morning was filled with advice, as well as a look at what goes through the minds of elementary schoolers growing up in a community where shootings happen regularly. The event also gave kids a chance to get to know some cops.

The assembled students listened to talk about firearms awareness by CTribat founder Shafiq Abdussabur (pictured), a local cop. Then they picked up acrylic paints and brushes to paint eight-by-twelve-inch canvases.

Abdussabur prompted the students with three questions: “Why do people bully? Why do people carry guns? Why do you think you need to carry a gun?”

A few boys reacted indignantly to the latter prompt. Questions popped up sporadically around the room; some were curious what to write if they didn’t feel the need to carry a weapon.

Antoine Taylor sought alternatives: “My method is to use my fist instead of weapons — it doesn’t kill anybody if you don’t hit them too hard.” Caqwir James considered the future: “[If] I got a family … just keep it out of my kids’ reach.”

Marlon Hagwood said he would carry a gun “for the community … for protection. I would have a permit for it.” Hagwood’s painting included brick, guns, a cemetery, and human figures. “They’re all connected. If you think about it, guns start off in the city, so, bricks. And if you use a gun, it kills people, so someone in your family has to go to the cemetery.”

Abdussabur hopes to display the paintings at the state Capitol, then at other spots in Connecticut, before bringing them back to Grant/Wexler when school resumes in September.

New Haven has already had nine shooting-related deaths this year, Abdussabur noted. He cautioned students against potential accidents: “No doubt that someone you’re gonna be with is gonna have a gun. What are you going to do? You know when someone you’re with has a gun.”

He motioned to Derek Cohen, Paul Finch, and Chris Elliott, who circulated in the room while the students painted. “By some chance if you take the wrong turn in the next five to 15 years, you’ll run into these officers,” Abdussabur said. “If you have any questions, if you’ve heard anything you want to know more about, ask these officers.”

The students and cops exchanged phone numbers. Abdussabur ate a piece of pizza despite his diet — “in solidarity” with the group, he said. Above all, Abdussabur encouraged community among the boys themselves. “All that stuff you normally do, just take a day off from it. I know grown men who have peed themselves because they’re going to jail. You can’t keep it up every day.”

Share this story

Share |

Comments

Posted by: lance | June 16, 2009 10:30 AM

It seems like obama hasn't been much of an inspiration in terms of stopping urban violence.....not in his days as a community organizer, and not as president.

Posted by: Rob | June 16, 2009 12:26 PM

Yes, in the almost five month's he's been president he hasn't solved all our intractable problems. Lance is right - his touch does not cure cancer and his visage does not pierce through decades of social disfunction built on centuries of injustice. I mean, that's what I voted for, and darned if I don't feel a little let down.

Violence is a tough nut to crack. I mean, maybe Obama's story and actions will help reduce the insanity of black-on-black crime, who knows. But Bush's eight years didn't do much to inspire a reduction of idiot-on-idiot crime, which is truly at crisis proportions.

Posted by: Alex | June 16, 2009 2:44 PM

Gee Lance - what have you done? It takes work at the local level here in New Haven. Are you involved?

Posted by: Morris Cove | June 16, 2009 3:19 PM

Alex

Of course he he hasn't, he's ... from East Haven, who does nothing but take shots from the safety of the internet. He won't get involved he's content with taking pot shots of people who are trying to make a difference.

Lots of luck Officer Abdussabur.

Posted by: Consti2amend | June 16, 2009 3:29 PM

Shafiq Abdussabur, a local cop...

I think a better way to help children learn about firearms, is to have the NRA's "Eddie Eagle" program taught there! It is truely set up for children to learn about guns. No, it is not about how to shoot, but what to do IF a gun is found. Maybe you should look into it? For the next school session?
There has got to be at least one LOE in New Haven who is a member of the NRA, ask them about the program.

Posted by: lance | June 16, 2009 3:43 PM

i was a cop for a long time, and picked off my share of new haveners with illegal guns in their cars as they attempted to come into town. i wish manship was around when i was working. he would have got a big kick out of me.

and furthermore alex, it isn't my job to stop urban gun violence. but i'll tell you what, if they abolished all entitlements so that we stopped enabling this cycle of welfare/drugs/guns, I would gladly adopt a kid of color or two, and rest assured the chances of them shooting someone or getting shot would decrease 99 percent.

obama was touted as the messiah, and he carried himself as one throughout the campaign. yet he he can't even impact his very own black community when it comes to decreasing violence. there are FAR more americans dying violent deaths in chicago than in iraq. go figure.

Posted by: jack | June 16, 2009 7:41 PM

the problem is the deviant thug culture,everyone wants to be a gangsta, destroying themselves and their community,it wouldn't matter if MLK were President

Posted by: lance | June 17, 2009 1:22 AM

safety of the internet? i see the three dots indicating your comment may have been edited. if you got something to say let me know, i'd be happy to pass on that whole safety of the internet thing and share my thoughts in person, and you could do the same.

and as far as this whole "taking shots" thing, well that's a load of crap. there's an easy "shot" that could have been taken here, yet nobody did.

obama chose to draw a racial line by the church he joined and stayed with until it became politically advantageous to do so. so if he wants to shun the fact that he's 1/2 white and adhere to a black value system (which was scrubbed from the trinity church website for political purposes), then he can bear the blame for the black on black violence problem- and the responsibility for correcting it.

i wish Abdussabur luck, but nothing is going to change as long as the government gives out free rent, food, and everything else to promote mass breeding by people who should never be parents in the first place.

Posted by: steve ross | June 17, 2009 10:01 AM

Lance,

Find a new hobby. Your obsession with Obama is frightening.

Posted by: lance | June 17, 2009 11:13 AM

hey steve, check out the latest from obama's mentor jeremiah wright, the inspiration for the title and content of "the audacity of hope".... you know, that book over there on your bookshelf.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_tamara_0612jun12,0,5388835.column

Posted by: Edward_H | June 17, 2009 10:44 PM

Steve Ross

Your obsession with Obama is frightening.

This guy's obsession is even more frightening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtn5YOGNHdo&feature=PlayList&p=B537EFCE73D8162A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=21

Sixth-Graders Confront Gun Violence

Comments

Special Sections

Legal Notices

Some Favorite Sites

Government/ Community Links

Flyerboard

Sponsors

N.H.I. Site Design & Development

NHI Store

News Feed