Jessica Elliott paused after introducing herself to the audience at the Southwest Community Center. She looked down, and for a moment, choked up. City activists before her talked about the toll that violence takes on children in the city of Syracuse. But Elliott, a teacher at three Syracuse city schools, needed to re-emphasize that point.

“I don’t know if people understand how (violence) impacts children,” she said.

After multiple shootings in the city of Syracuse in 2018, more than 50 residents gathered in the Southwest Community Center to discuss “The State of Our Community.” Six city activists sat at a podium to voice frustrations, highlight resources and find solutions to parents of children living in the city.

Multiple panelists called on community members to reach out to more of the city’s youth. Syracuse just experienced its most deadly year for youth in more than 25 years, Syracuse.com reported. In a span of 30 days from mid-September to mid-October, six teenagers and adolescents were shot in Syracuse, per CNY Central.

National Action Network Syracuse President Twiggy Billue moderated the panel. She said the gathering was not in response to any particular act of violence in the city; it was from an “outcry” from residents, students and teachers within the city.

The Southwest Community Center is a nonprofit center that provides after-school training for disabled students, as well as programs for elderly residents, among other services.

Tim Jennings-Bey, director of Trauma Response at United Way of Central New York, urged parents to be more attentive to their children. Some children are nervous to go to certain schools and community centers within the city because of violence, and they don’t reach out for help as a result, he said.

As a community, Syracuse pays attention to decay and what’s wrong, Jennings-Bey said. He challenged the audience to shift their image of Syracuse and highlight accomplishments by successful students.

“We have accepted the culture of death as the norm,” Jennings-Bey said. “We always talk about the 50 percent of children who don’t graduate from the Syracuse City School District. Well, what about the 50 percent that made it?”

Lepa Jones, president of the local chapter of Mothers Against Gun Violence, also spoke during the panel. She was born and raised in Syracuse, and she said her life has been dedicated to helping young children in her community.

She also spoke about her loss of her 17-year-old child to violence. She said that she recently attended a service for a 15-year-old boy and saw young teenagers at the funeral.

She then asked the audience: “What happens to them the next day?”

A panel of prominent community members spoke about the different ways that violence affects the city’s young people, but also implored residents to be proactive as parents and concerned citizens in stemming the issue.

Dan Lyon | Asst. Photo Editor

Moments later, Elliott told the audience about her teaching at Nottingham High School, Corcoran High School and the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central. She said she makes it a mandatory assignment for kids to write in journals, and she makes sure to respond. She said it creates a “personal conversation” between herself and her students. But the reality is, she said, that she teaches 90 students from 3 classes.

“Each of those kids are in so much pain,” she said. “And nobody’s listening to them.”

Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens and Police Chief Kenton Buckner sat in the audience of the event. Buckner was recently hired from Little Rock, Arkansas, where increasing diversity within Little Rock’s police force was his main priority. Buckner said in December that he would try to reduce violent crime in Syracuse by using an intelligence-led policing model.

Toward the end of the panel, Good Life Youth Foundation Director Hasan Stephens said that he gets calls at 4 a.m. from residents who have various problems — they didn’t eat, they needed to turn themselves in or they needed a ride.

“We have been trained to think about nine to five. We’re not nine-to-five. I don’t think anybody on this panel right now is nine-to-five,” he said. “We go home with the burden.”

Published on January 17, 2019 at 12:24 am

Contact Gabe: gkstern@syr.edu | @gabestern326