Remembering Gwain Brown
“Welcome. My name is Marie Snyder, and I am the Dean of Restorative Justice at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School. Thank you for joining us in our sanctuary to celebrate life and move forward together.
This mural was created by the Today is Tomorrow youth collective from the graduating class of 2016. It was developed in effort to promote a conversation about violence prevention in Chicago. Every day we see headlines that name the numbers of the bullets, but not the victims. And over the years, we have engaged in dialogue about the impact this has on our psyche. Dare we imagine that if we see ‘0 Shots, 0 Killed: Today, in Chicago’ every day, could we believe it as true? Could we believe it as possible? Could we work harder at memorializing our black and brown young people as they grow, as they live?
Healing is an art, and it takes time. It takes practice, and it takes love.
In effort to heal and uplift our community at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School, I invite you to recite this mantra by Assata Shakur. Please repeat after me:
It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.
Thank you.”
“Welcome. My name is Marie Snyder, and I am the Dean of Restorative Justice at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School. Thank you for joining us in our sanctuary to celebrate life and move forward together.
This mural was created by the Today is Tomorrow youth collective from the graduating class of 2016. It was developed in effort to promote a conversation about violence prevention in Chicago. Every day we see headlines that name the numbers of the bullets, but not the victims. And over the years, we have engaged in dialogue about the impact this has on our psyche. Dare we imagine that if we see ‘0 Shots, 0 Killed: Today, in Chicago’ every day, could we believe it as true? Could we believe it as possible? Could we work harder at memorializing our black and brown young people as they grow, as they live?
Healing is an art, and it takes time. It takes practice, and it takes love.
In effort to heal and uplift our community at Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School, I invite you to recite this mantra by Assata Shakur. Please repeat after me:
It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.
Thank you.”
“Chicago Tribune: He was 'the life of the party': Family, friends remember Gwain Brown, one of 6 teens gunned down in Chicago this past week,” Alice Yin for Chicago Tribune, 2019.
“Chicago Sun-Times: Teachers, classmates and family honor student killed in West Side shooting,” by Manny Ramos for Chicago Sun-Times, 2019.
Photographs made by students Xreesol Lopez & Yamilette Rios
Video made by Carlos Jimenez
