A group of children from Southeast D.C. gathered in the Battelle-Tompkins Atrium for "FLY Youth Hosts the Mic" Friday night to discuss and read from their new magazine that seeks to tackle gun violence through literature and journalism.
Anthony Franklin, 12, was a little shy of the microphone at first.
"He's gonna need some encouragement," said a voice from the crowd, which included members of Facilitating Leadership in Youth (FLY), the AU student group that helped Anthony and the eight other children in FLY's Youth Council put the magazine together. Members of the Black Student Alliance, which co-sponsored the event, also attended.
"Read it! Read it! Read it!" chanted the crowd, but Anthony wouldn't budge.
Finally Keagoe Stith, 13, came to the mic.
"This is from the Anthony Franklin Collection," he said, and read from one of Anthony's contributions to the magazine:
"Weapons destroy the innocent lives of young people like me. Young people, who have a whole life ahead of them, get robbed of achievements they could have and probably would have accomplished for the world."
The crowd burst into applause.
Anthony's work is part of Why? Guns Killin Youngins: The Youth of Southeast Washington, D.C. Want Answers, a magazine full of poems, art and interviews that tackle gun violence from a variety of perspectives. The magazine explores gun violence through the words of those who are trying to stop it, those who have lost loved ones to it and those who pretend it doesn't exist.
In the magazine, Roneka Jenkins, 14, asked Kenneth Barnes, founder of ROOT, Reaching Out to Others Together, about why the media doesn't cover all the violence in Anacostia.
"Racism is an epidemic in our society," Barnes said. "I never felt it more than when my son was murdered. ... One of the reasons they don't cover it is because ... the death of a minority or an economically disadvantaged person isn't as meaningful in our society as the death of someone famous or [who] has money. ... When my son was murdered, there was no outcry."
Roneka said she liked the idea of making a magazine because she felt that the voices in her neighborhood are ignored.
"We felt like no one was paying attention to Southeast D.C. [Members of the media] don't follow up on black people," she said. "I felt really good knowing that somebody really cares that we did something like this."
Roneka's brother, Martin Jenkins, 15, interviewed Karen Allan, owner of Southern Police Equipment Company, an area gun store.
"Anacostia is the neighborhood we live in. There are very high rates of gun violence in Anacostia, particularly among youth," Martin said in the interview. "How do you feel knowing that some of your guns may possibly be used by young people in our community?"
Allan responded: "I have no comment on it. First of all, I don't believe my guns are being used there."
"They are in D.C.," Martin said on Friday, when the audience asked him what that interview was like. "They're killing people."
Martin said that it was difficult to get the gun store owner to talk to him, but that it wasn't hard to find interviewees whose lives had been torn apart by gun violence.
"There were many others we could have picked," he said.
The children said they were moved by stories of families who lost loved ones, like Marita Michael. Franklin interviewed Michael about the shooting death of her son that inspired her to found DFD Foundation.
"Devin was 16 years old. He was an Anacostia High School student in the 11th grade and he was killed on October 30th [2004] in front of the school ... by gun violence," Michael said. "Don't let your child's death be in vain. ... That means you gotta stand up and let people know that it's not right."
The violence harms families of victims and offenders, Michael said.
"It doesn't only harm the families - it hurt my family a lot - but realistically and being open-minded, the family that lost their son that's locked up, their family is grieving too."
Michael said she does everything she can to curb violence. She works with Metropolitan Police Department Chief Charles H. Ramsey and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) on gun violence issues. She also sits on the board of ROOT.
"Anything to stop the violence in D.C.," she said in the interview.
Roneka said that the police don't do enough to prevent crime. In a neighborhood where shots are fired nightly, she said she only sees police officers about once a week.
In an interview with Sgt. Derek Larsen of the MPD, Keagoe's brother, Kristopher Stith, 13, asked why there isn't more of a police presence in Police District 7, where many of the Youth Council members live. Larsen compared it to District 2, where AU is located, which is about twice the size of District 7.
"And believe it or not, [District 2] has the same amount of officers, but [District 7 is] a lot busier than the second district," Larsen explained. "We're actually trying to recruit more people ... but after 9/11 people are just not interested in becoming an officer anymore."
The magazine is the biggest project FLY's Youth Council has taken on, said FLY President James Misner. The children did all of the work themselves, with minimal help from AU's FLY volunteers. They got started last January when the council decided on the topic of gun violence.
Misner said FLY leaders taught them how to conduct an interview, drove them around, helped them lay out the magazine and fill out the grant application for $2,500 from the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, an organization that supports programs that revitalize urban areas. Besides that, the rest was up to the kids.
"I think [the magazine] offers them a practical chance to use what they've been learning in school and in FLY," Misner said.
The project is an example of FLY's "sneak-attack approach to learning," Misner said, adding that the children learn best when they work on projects that are "culturally relevant" and hold meaning for them.
Before FLY, Roneka said, "I didn't know I was a poet." She said the program helped hone her communication skills. "FLY helped me to speak out," she said.
FLY works with kids from Southeast through the Youth Council as well as a summer camp, one-on-one tutoring, a program for young women, classes on hip-hop dance and poetry, and other services.
Misner said about 40 AU students tutor and 20 other active members participate in FLY, serving about 40 youths.
He said he hopes to expand the organization and partner with other groups. Friday's event was the first the group has held with the Black Student Alliance. In April FLY plans to team up with School of Public Affairs Leadership for its sophomore fund-raiser, a poetry slam.
On Friday night, an audience member asked Martin what his friends thought of his involvement with FLY, wondering if they thought the group was for dorks.
"Dorks?" Martin said, making a face of astonishment and disgust that revealed an intense loyalty to the program. He said that his friends had their own things to do and don't mind when Martin spends time with FLY.
Misner said that time spent with FLY builds character and leadership skills in an area of D.C. where many residents feel hopeless.
"It gives them a sense of community and empowerment that a lot of people in Anacostia don't have," Misner said.
