Local, USA

(Somber piano music)

Male anchor

Deadly shootings in Philadelphia could be linked--

Female anchor

An 18- year-old and a 21-year-old are dead, a 17-year-old was--

Male anchor

Gunman shot him twice.

Woman

Bring the image as far forward as you can. Like this?

Woman

Yes, perfect. Put it in front of my face or down? In front like that?

Woman

Down just a little bit so I can see your eyes. Okay. I mean, gun violence in Philadelphia is the number one leading cause of death for African American men aged 14 to 24. Number one.

Woman

Chin down just a little. Yeah, there we go. My name is Dr. Patricia Griffin, and this is my son, Darien Owen Griffin. We're incarcerating folks at numbers that are unbelievable, but we won't put the resources in to do the healing that needs to be happening. There need to be trauma centers in every community in Philadelphia. Because there's so much pain, and grief, and loss, and we're paying for that in ways that it's unbelievable. (Tranquil music)

Dorothy

Good evening, everyone.

Audience

Good evening. My name is Dorothy Johnson-Speight. First of all, let me say welcome. I see some new faces. So if you're here for the first time, I'm sorry that you're here, but glad that you came. I started Mothers In Charge in May of 2003. This is my son's picture here. His name was Khaaliq, when he was 24 years old. And he was shot seven times over parking space. And Mothers In Charge has been the vehicle for me to heal. This is what we do here at Mothers In Charge, to help you know that you can live through it. We're here to support you with that. On December 6th, a cold night, I got the phone call that I had been dreading

my entire life

that Khaaliq had been shot and to come quick. He had just been accepted into Lincoln University's Master's program and he wanted to move in with his brother. And while, you know, he was 24, I wanted to say, "No, no, no," but I'm thinking, "Okay, well he's gonna move on American St. What could possibly happen on American Street?" It was a nice neighborhood. There had been an argument with one of Khaaliq's friends about parking and Khaaliq was trying to break up the argument. And Ernest Odom came out of the house and shot him seven times. That was the worst day of my life. And I didn't think I was gonna survive it. (Somber music)