LYNN — Public officials, students, and members of the community gathered in Lynn English High School’s library on Thursday to discuss how the community can decrease gun violence.
Mayor Jared Nicholson described the renewed urgency of the issue in the aftermath of the Essex Street shooting in September that killed Abraham Diaz and Jandriel Heredia and injured three others.
“We have made it clear that the violence is not acceptable,” Nicholson said.
He said the city must take a multi-pronged approach by engaging law enforcement as well as the community.
“We can’t assume that we are going to find the one thing that’s gonna make this all stop,” Nicholson said. “But I think it’s nights like tonight where we can look one another in the eyes and see that commitment.”
The discussion was moderated by the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence and featured panelists Antonio Gutierrez, co-founder of Lynn Street Youth Outreach Advocacy; Emily Fish, assistant director of Roca Lynn; and Deputy Superintendent Maricel Goris.
During the discussion, the three panelists were asked questions about what their organizations are doing to help and engage youth, what the community’s responsibility is to decrease violence, and what obstacles stand in the way of the work that needs to be done.
One common theme during the discussion was that the path to ending gun violence must be led by everyone in the community.
Fish, whose organization provides young men with training and resources to leave gang violence behind, said community members can begin by thinking about the success of their neighbors rather than just themselves.
For example, she said, teachers, students, and family members often tend to invest their time in those who are already succeeding and turn away from those who are failing.
“If we’re experiencing violence in the community, it has the ability to impact all of us,” Fish said. “So, it’s not somebody else’s problem. It’s our problem. And the more we care about each other, and the more we see our success and our safety as intertwined, I think the more we will reach a space where we can adequately address these problems that we’re seeing.”
Fish said the community effort will look different for everyone, whether it takes the form of volunteering at a drop-in center, calling legislators to lobby for gun-control legislation to be passed, or engaging students in local neighborhood activities.
Gutierrez emphasized that change will not come unless people take action into their own hands.
He added that members of the community, referring to government agencies, local nonprofits, and residents, must support each other when violence occurs rather than creating silos and leaving the work to law enforcement.
