Jackie Rowe-Adams, 59, a lifelong Harlem resident, has lived a mother’s nightmare.
Two of her four sons, aged 13 and 17, were killed as a result of urban gun violence-the first, twenty five years ago, on 122nd St. and 7th Ave., outside a bodega in Central Harlem, and the second, nine years ago outside an apartment building in downtown Baltimore.
Both were killed in the month of February.
“It’s a tough month for me, every time, but by the grace of God, if I didn’t have a great support team, I wouldn’t have been able to make it,” she said.
An employee of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation for the past 23 years, Jackie has since found a unique way to translate her grief into an important community cause: gun prevention in Harlem.
“At first, I didn’t know where to turn, and, with the grace of God, all these years, I know something was missing, and I know I needed help, but I didn’t know what kind of help,” she said.
In late 2005, a friend told her about Safe Horizon, an agency that promotes justice for victims of crime and abuse by providing them with support services such as counseling and court advocacy.
But after a series of deadly shootings on Labor Day in Harlem last year, Jackie decided on a whim that the time for mourning was over.
“That night, no lie, two in the morning, I jumped up, I started screaming and I said I can’t take it no more. Somebody have to do somethin’ about this,” she said.
After gathering some of the other mothers who have lost sons and daughters to gun violence, she marched into Assemblyman Keith Wright’s office in the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Building.
They talked about how they were interested in channeling their energies in the pursuit of drug and crime prevention programs in Harlem. “We was five mothers and he cancelled all his appointments and he end up cryin’ with us,” she said. “We asked the Assemblyman, ‘Are you scared to say or do something?’ He said, ‘hell no!’”
The meeting took just over an hour, but the mothers left with a group mandate and name-Harlem Mothers Stop Another Violent End (Harlem Mothers SAVE)-and even established a date for a press conference at City Hall.
Today, Harlem Mothers SAVE is a visible force in the New York City anti-gun coalition. The group focuses on activism, education, and victim services, including an active political lobby for stricter local, state, and national legislation that will limit the availability of handguns. “What we try to do is prevention and education. We do outreach, workshops, resource guides-that sort of work,” Jackie said.
And, so far, the response has been very positive. Jackie has conducted more than 20 workshops with local schools and community groups. The programs encourage peaceful methods of conflict resolution and encourage children to stay away from or report friends who have guns.
Still, gun violence remains a major issue on the minds of law enforcement officials in Harlem. Crime statistics show that, in 2006, 41 murders took place in the three precincts that cover Harlem. [According to Jackie Kuhls, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, the majority of these murders were carried out using illegal guns.
“In New York City, we know that 90 percent of illegal guns come from out-of-state, primarily southern states with weak gun laws. Virginia is our key source state and then North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida follow,” said Ms. Kuhls.
Her group has identified under-employment as a major cause of gun violence in New York City. “In Harlem in particular, some of the after-school and youth programs age-out at 15 or 16. A lot of kids tell us that they don’t get jobs. Furthermore, if you want a job, some of the young people need to go through employment readiness program to prepare, but it’s not always easy to find them,” she said.
For Jackie, the biggest fear is losing her two remaining sons. “This is what keeps me hard at work. People are listening,” she said. “By God, we are singing, telling it, and shouting it.”
