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Students leave bright message as reminder of lives lost to gun violence in North Philly
340 brightly colored t-shirts cover the plaza outside St. Joseph’s Prep, stretching down Girard Avenue, displaying the names and ages of lives lost to gun violence, including children as young as 12-years-old.
PHILADELPHIA - A memorial for the hundreds of lives lost to gun violence in Philadelphia will be on display in North Philadelphia for the next two weeks.
340 brightly colored t-shirts now cover the plaza outside St. Joseph’s Prep, stretching down Girard Avenue, displaying the names and ages of lives lost, including children as young as 12-years-old.
It’s the second year that St. Joseph’s Prep and The Gesu School partnered with Heeding God’s Call to End Gun violence. The organization is behind similar displays across the Delaware Valley at all different places of worship.
It’s a familiar pain for senior Antoine Robinson, who said he lost his cousin to gun violence several years ago.
"Just seeing the pain and suffering that it caused my aunt, my uncle, my whole family in general, it hits hard," he said. "It affects everyone, somehow, even if you don’t see it."
The display will be open to the public until May 17th, and school leaders say they feel it is important to share the space with the community.
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"Last year we had a woman out here who asked if she could rearrange the shirts, so her family members could be together," said John Marinacci, president of St. Joseph’s Prep. "That not only is a reminder of this public health crisis, but it’s a reminder of the real lives that are impacted."
Religious Studies Teacher, Michael Gambone said they take the opportunity to bring in speakers during the time the memorial is displayed and to spark important conversations during school hours. Last year, a group of students traveled to Harrisburg to advocate for common sense gun laws.
"We have kids from the suburbs where maybe this is not an issue for them, kids from the city where it is an issue for them," said Gambone. "Ongoing gun violence manifests itself differently in the city than in rural communities, there’s a mental health element to it all, so it connects a lot of different issues."
Sophomore Antell Cole, who joined dozens of students on Monday morning to put the t-shirts on display, said he’s hopeful for a city united on the issue.
"People on my street have been shot and killed, it’s really bad," he said. "It shouldn’t be about Democrats or Republicans, we should all come together to say hey we can’t keep doing this, we can’t keep losing people, we can’t keep losing children, we can’t be scared to go on the street because we’re scared we’re going to get shot. I think we all need to talk about it more and unite and say this is wrong."