Thread by @nytopinion

Black mothers know more than anyone should ever have to about the toll of gun violence. As killings by police and mass shootings continue to make headlines, it’s time we listen to them, writes @ArionneNettles. nyti.ms/3nYUj6e

In partnership with @TeamTrace, @FlintBeat, @MLK50Memphis, @Oaklandside and @NYTOpinion, @ArionneNettles, a Chicago-based reporter, interviewed Black mothers around the country about their experiences.

Many of the women featured have moved on from grief or distress about the violence — by both police officers and civilians — to engage in activism and find solutions.

“My twin sons, Albade and Obadiah, were 22 years young, working their way through college in Oakland, when I got a call that they had been murdered,” Lorrain Taylor told @ArionneNettles. Taylor is the founder of 1,000 Mothers to Prevent Violence.

“It feels like torture every single day. Every day. You just wake up and it’s like, ‘Well, let me see what violence happened last night when I was asleep,’” Aishah George told Nettles. George’s son was shot and killed when he was 16. She is a member of Mothers In Charge.

“I also think that money needs to be put into restorative justice programs that are offering conflict resolution techniques,” said Chez Smith. Her stepson survived a gunshot wound in 2008, when he was 15.

“Police violence has always been there. We who live in these communities, we already know all this,” said Diane Latiker, the founder of Kids Off The Block, a nonprofit organization that provides recreational activities and educational support for young people in Chicago.

“I think that there definitely needs to be more education provided to people on guns and how to properly use them. I think they’re too easily accessible to everyone,” Shanice Steenholdt told Nettles.

“If I don’t feel safe in my own community, and I don’t feel like the police here or the sheriffs here are necessarily helping with the safety here, then I don’t necessarily feel safe all around,” writes Alexis Hamilton.

Read more about the experiences these Black mothers shared with @ArionneNettles, and their suggested solutions. nyti.ms/3nYUj6e