“Yes bring me my shotgun
Yes man and a pocket full of shells
Yes go bring me my shotgun
Yes man and a pocket full of shells
Yeah you know I’m going to kill that woman
I’m gonna throw her in that old deep dug well”
(Lyrics and Music, Lightnin’ Hopkins)
This old Blues classic describes an interpersonal conflict between the singer and his girlfriend. As he sings we hear the action he is willing to take against her for her infidelities. The song doesn’t describe any other solution such as leaving her, leaving town, or simply breaking up with her. It is clear to see that Lightnin’ doesn’t demonstrate de-escalation techniques. The project I am spearheading, Planting Stems of Peace, won the Social Change Category in February, and de-escalation techniques were part of my pitch. This civic pitch contest was developed by the Cleveland Leadership Center. This year was the first virtual Accelerate pitch.
I am a public health professional who understands that social diseases, such as violence require epidemiological methods to reduce the frequency of the disease in the population. The data on fire-arm assaults is compelling:
In the February 2020, report, “Gun Violence in America, An Analysis of 2018 CDC Data, “the authors state that 13,958 Americans were murdered by firearms.” Looking at the demographics of gender and race, Black women ages 20-34 had a firearm rate 5.5 times higher than their White counterparts. “The report states that African-American men in that same age group were 17 times as likely to die from gunshot wounds than their White counterparts.
I want to change that, as a mother, a sister, a neighbor, a friend, a citizen; a citizen for change.
I did not know I could receive grant money by pitching my idea. The practice sessions they offered us through Zoom were very helpful. We were mentored and coached to perform in front of an audience. In preparing for my pitch, I watched the videos of previous winners. I decided early on to use props that tied in directly with my idea.
Planting Stems of Peace is that title because I want to plant trees where gun violence has occurred. The project has a long-term focus since trees are one of the earth’s longest-living organisms. The research that led me to believe this is a solution is ample. But when I started looking into this I thought that an increase in the tree canopy would increase the firearm assault events. I thought that initially. Boy was I wrong.
As my learning curve widened I began to see tree planting as a viable solution. When the tree canopy increases, fire-arm assaults decrease. There are several theories, one is based on temperature, the body of research that shows there is a direct relationship between an 80 plus temperate and violence is well established. It touches the whole community not just one person.
So, standing in front of the camera, I wanted the audience to make a connection between leaves and bullets. Those were my props. I sequestered each in my hand and said, “Use these, (unfurled the leaves), to stop these (unfurled a 38-caliber bullet.)”
As the lights glared and my boot heels clicked on the stage at TRI-C, I wondered who would see this and how will my idea be received. I stood on my mark and began speaking in a controlled cadence. My eyes met the camera lenses with unflinching sincerity. My words are transforming into action. The virtual audience is connecting with the possibility of permanent change. I spoke of violence interrupters, whose job it is to identify the possible retaliatory shooter who in their grief want to avenge the death or mortal wounding of a loved one. They want to shoot to even the score, just like Lightin’ Hopkins. So, instead of packing shotgun shells in their pockets, I am asking the bereaved and vengeful to plant a tree, so that along with the trees, children will grow into citizens for change.