Newtown summit trains young people affected by gun violence to become advocates

Students display the names and stories of dozens of gun violence victims to show during the daylong Youth Leadership Summit. (Photo by Sarah Ferris/News21)

By Sarah Ferris

A few years after Ismael Beah moved from his war-torn village in Sierra Leone to New York City, a group of men jumped into his subway train and held their guns in the faces of passengers around him.

As a former child soldier, Beah noticed that the safety switch on the men’s semi-automatic rifles was turned on. They were not in danger.

“This is not the way to live in a civilized society,” said Beah, the author of the international bestseller “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.”

Speaking to more than 100 young people who have been affected by gun violence in communities including Newtown, Conn., Hartford, Conn. and Harlem, N.Y., Beah stressed the importance of educating others through storytelling.

He said most people who opposed stricter gun laws had not experienced gun violence themselves, and if a young person can put his or her face on the issue, it can change the hearts and minds of their opponents.

“We don’t need to wait until everybody has suffered,” Beah said.

Beah spoke May 24 as part of a daylong youth summit on preventing gun violence, hosted by a high school group called Newtown Action Alliance.

Ten-year-old Carmello Roberts, who lives in Hartford, holds up a painting during a workshop led by a Newtown Middle School art teacher. (Photo by Sarah Ferris/News21)

Sessions included grassroots lobbying 101, healing and activism through the arts, and a movie screening and discussion with Virginia Tech survivor and activist Colin Goddard.

Goddard, who works as a full-time gun policy advocate in D.C., stressed that in addition to advocacy, young people must also watch out for friends or classmates they believe could become dangerous.

“You just have to be an ear to them, listen to what they say,” Goddard said, adding that they should also know when to seek help in severe situations.

While working for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Goddard said he once answered a call from a high school student in Bridgeport, Conn. – about a 30 minute-drive from Newtown – who was curious about the Virginia Tech shooting. They spoke for more than a half hour that day, then the calls continued nearly every day over the next week.

As his questions became more focused on the shooter’s methods and the caller’s own troubles at school, Goddard reported him to the police – a call that may have saved his life and those of others.

“A few years ago, we talked again and he’s doing a lot better,” Goddard said.

Goddard is now working for a national coalition called Everytown for Gun Safety.

Sarah Clements, a senior and confounder of the organization, said it was crucial to bring activists from Newtown as well as cities like Hartford and Harlem because gun violence affects every type of community.

“The main purpose of this summit was to bring everybody together. The only way that we can really address the issue is if we come together and share our stories,” Clements said.

“Newtown isn’t alone in this. Harlem isn’t alone in this.”