Gun Violence is Public Health Crisis in Desperate Need of Resources and Support
By: The Jacob, Valeria Langeloth Foundation
Tags: Racial Justice, Health, Gun Violence, Community

Photo of Hezekiah Johnson, by Eric Albrecht for Dispatch

This winter, the surge in COVID-19 cases has rightly been diagnosed as a public health crisis, turning life upside down for millions of people around the world and killing over 1.34 million people since emerging at the end of 2019. But in the United States, another public health crisis is deeply impacting the daily lives of thousands of Americans, and has taken the lives of nearly 40,000 Americans so far this year: gun violence.

Too often, gun violence and gun deaths are misunderstood, underreported, and ignored when the violence occurs in Black and brown communities. Rather than treating gun-related violence as a public health problem, governments and local police treat it as a criminal issue that can be solved through incarceration and punishment. In reality, gun violence spreads from person to person just like an epidemic, and it’s impact is felt across communities beyond the individuals involved. At the Langeloth Foundation, we believe that everyone deserves to live in a safe and healthy community, but guns and structural violence are all too common. That’s why we invest in addressing this public health crisis by working with those who are closest to the problem, who so often are also closest to the solutions.

While mass shootings at schools, shopping malls, and concerts tend to dominate headlines, the reality is that most gun related deaths do not happen as a result of these events. Black and Latinx communities disproportionately feel the impact of gun violence as opposed to their white counterparts, even as funding is channeled into predominantly white-led gun violence prevention organizations. Mass shooting numbers soared this summer amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting Black communities the hardest — yet those most affected did not receive the attention or resources they needed to handle the issue or address the underlying societal problems that drive gun violence, like unemployment and poverty. In turn, gun violence erodes local wealth, which extends and perpetuates the root causes of conflict within communities. Studies show that gun violence “shapes mental health, long-term physical health, cognitive abilities, and even friendship structures.” This pain is felt across communities and through generations, even by those who are not involved in the violence. This cultural trauma emerges from “routinized harm”, where government inaction and public inattention affirms and sanctions the violence — making it clear to the communities being harmed that their pain is being ignored.

At the Langeloth Foundation, we recognize the deep ties between gun violence, community health, structural racism, and poverty and invest in projects that understand and incorporate these underlying causes into their approaches for change. The national network we support partners with local governments, non-profits, and residents to tailor solutions and implement policies to help community members feel safe. These projects have a particular focus on community gun violence prevention and supporting the leadership development of men and boys of color.

Crucially, our grantees and the projects they support work deeply embedded in communities. Cities United, based out of Louisville, Kentucky is on a mission to reduce the rate of homicides and shootings among young Black men and boys by 50% and reduce gun violence by 2025. Working towards this goal, Cities United offers a Youth Leadership Fellowship “to build the pipeline of leaders” committed to building “Safe, healthy & hopeful communities for young Black men and boys and their families.”

With offices in both California and Washington DC, Faith in Action’s LIVE FREE campaign addresses community gun violence and issues of mass incarceration, both of which are deeply linked to the criminalization of communities of color. Using their “Body-Ballot-Buck” Framework, they combine faith, community, and power to drive civic engagement, political action and financial investment for the reduction of gun violence-related homicides and decrease of county jail populations.

Across the country, the Community Justice Reform Coalition offers resources like trainings, speaker events, research and studies and has established peacemaker cities, partner organizations, and strategy teams to address “the intersection of gun violence prevention and criminal justice reform in urban communities of color.”

Institutions of health must also see it as their responsibility to address violence in the communities they serve. The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention develops and grows Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs, grounded in the principles of intervention, care, follow up, and addressing the social determinants of health, to disrupt cycles of community violence that disproportionately impact young Black men.

These are just a few examples of the dedicated organizations doing this life-saving work, but they show that the solution to gun violence must be led by and center the communities worst impacted by the problem. The way we choose to invest, and who we invest in, communicates clearly the people and communities we prioritize — and those we do not. To turn to corner on this public health crisis, philanthropy must recognize the multitude of dimensions at play and center the voices of those closest to the problem. We must recognize the health implications this crisis is having on generations of young people of color, and we must look beyond the carceral system to find solutions. Only then can we hope to end this epidemic of violence and guarantee safe and healthy communities for all.