Kyle Arrington, a DMV native, and his fellow former Baltimore Ravens player Anquan Boldin, among others, met with Greg Jackson, director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to discuss the disparate impact of gun violence affecting communities of color.
“Just a few blocks away from the White House in D.C., we’ve had conversations with communities, with families who are frustrated, who are hurt, who don’t feel seen, who do not feel heard,” Arrington noted at the July 11 meeting.
Statistics reveal 2023 was the deadliest year in the District in over two decades. This year, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has already reported 114 homicides and 637 assaults with a dangerous weapon.
No one is removed from the harmful effects of gun violence, emphasized Boldin, co-founder of the Players Coalition, an advocacy organization of over 1400 professional athletes, coaches and owners.
“We all know that it’s a huge issue that’s plaguing our country, especially when you’re talking about our youth. We hear it all the time. We witness it all the time. And I think we’ve all been affected by them in one way or the other,” Boldin told The Informer. “I’ve lost family members to gun violence. I’ve lost friends. I definitely think it’s an important issue that needs to be addressed.”
Boldin said last month’s meeting highlighted the importance of funding when it comes to reducing deaths from guns. According to the National Collaborative on Gun Violence research, federal spending allocated $1.4 trillion of the 2020 budget toward combating gun-related deaths. The number includes $25 million in research funding split between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“The attorney general came out and declared it a public health crisis as this country knows about the issue of gun violence all too well. For us, it’s important to come here and learn as much as possible to see what this administration is doing to address those problems and see how we can partner,” Boldin added.
The number of gun-related deaths among young people rose from 6,998 to 10,186, between 2000 and 2020 according to the CDC. However, studies prove that when violence interruption programs receive financial support, there’s a clear decrease in shootings. After programs were implemented in a South Bronx, New York neighborhood, the community saw a 63% decrease in victims of gun violence.
Arrington noted the importance of organizations working to “curb the epidemic that is gun violence here in America.”
“It’s our responsibility to carry the banner of people in our community, make their voices heard, to meet with lawmakers, meet with this administration, to be united on this issue, which has unfortunately been very politicized, but it is a public health crisis,” Arrington later emphasized.
Although the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention did not share remarks after the meeting, Community Justice, an organization formerly headed by Jackson, did send a representative to weigh in.
“[Jackson] came to the White House as a survivor of gun violence. His story reminds us, especially as people of color, as men of color, that oftentimes we’ve been criminalized when we are victims and should be treated as such,” said José Alfaro.
Alfaro offered solutions to help address gun violence throughout the nation.
“We need to invest in a number of solutions by thinking about how communities, municipalities, governments and states are investing in violence intervention and interruption programs, ensuring that we’re building healthy ecosystems that include the health system, that include, housing and education,” Alfaro explained. “All of these social determinants of health really allow for our communities to thrive. And when we’re thriving we live in environments that allow us to prevent gun violence.”