Change will require the ’collective us,’ Mayor Young says
Jevonte Porter, Memphis Allies’ community relations director, was pushing a stroller at the Ninth Annual Walk Against Gun Violence in Orange Mound. Porter’s passengers in that stroller were precious to him: 2-year-old Jevonte Jr., and 3-year-old daughter Madison.
“They’re the future,” he said with a grin, just hours before Father’s Day.
Like any parent, Porter would love tomorrow’s Memphis to be home to less gun violence; to be a safer place for all children–whether they are growing up in Orange Mound, Frayser, Hickory Hill, South Memphis or Whitehaven.
All those communities—and others—are places where Memphis Allies and partner organizations are either already offering programming to reduce gun violence or soon will be.
“What today reminds us is that people truly care about community and humanity is not dead,” Porter said, wiping sweat from his brow as he pushed that stroller with precious cargo along Deadrick Avenue. “When you see people rally around a common cause, particularly around reducing gun violence in these undeserved communities, that’s cause to rejoice.”
What today reminds us is that people truly care about community and humanity is not dead.
– Jevonte Porter
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