With five weeks left in 2020, Birmingham is just two homicides shy of reaching a 24-year high in killings and one pastor in the city has taken out billboards to show just how disconcerting the numbers are.
The Rev. Paul Hollman of pastor at Mount Mariah Missionary Baptist Church spearheaded the effort with the billboard space donated by Lamar Advertising.
The digital billboards are updated immediately once a homicide is confirmed and, as of Wednesday, stood at 111. “Stop the Killings Birmingham,” the signage reads. Roughly six are placed throughout the city.
Hollman said he came up with the idea following the Sept. 13 shooting death of 71-year-old Javanna Cotton “Midge” Owens, a member of Hollman’s church. “It was just devastating,’' Hollman said. “When they killed her, it got a lot of people upset.”
The church members discussed ways to get involved and the idea of the billboards was born. “We want to make people aware of what’s going on because I think a lot of times it’s swept under the rug and people don’t want you to know what’s really happening,’' Hollman said. “I hope it makes people aware.”
“I think it’s very hypocritical that if a cop killed one of these people it would be national news, but if people are killing other people it’s not news,’' he said. “If Black lives really matter, 111 people being killed in the size of a city like Birmingham, it should matter to everybody around the world whether it’s a cop’s bullet or a citizen’s bullet. It’s the same thing to me.”
Of the 111 homicides so far this year, 13 have been ruled justifiable and one accident and therefore aren’t deemed criminal. Birmingham police only have to submit criminal homicides to the FBI for it’s annual analysis of crime in the country. Birmingham also had 111 homicides in 2017, which was the highest tally recorded since 113 homicides in 1996.
The city’s highest homicide tally in recent history was 141 in 1991. There were 59 homicides in Birmingham in 2014, just short of tying 2011 for the fewest killings since 1966 in which 56 people were killed.
“It’s a problem. It’s not just a problem, it’s an issue,’' Hollman said. “We are hoping more people will take not of what’s going, become involved and stop the killings.”
Birmingham police earlier this week issued a video public service announcement, also calling for a stop in gun violence. “It’s a sight and sound that too many in Birmingham have experienced too often,’' police said of gunfire in the PSA.. “Already this year, 87 criminal homicides involving gunfire have occurred. BPD has taken more than 2,000 guns off the streets this year. Please join us in making a change and stopping the violence. It takes all of us to stop the violence.”
“What we have to do during this holiday season is call more attention to what’s going so this thing will not go through the roof and we have 30 more homicides during the holidays before the end of the year,’' Hollman said.
He said he has received a lot of feedback from the billboards. “People just said they didn’t know because no one is talking about it,’' he said. “There’s still hope.”
The billboards will stay up through January. Hollman said he wants to continue to utilize them, but hopefully with a more positive message. He is open to any ideas of what that campaign could look like.
“We want more positive billboards,’' he said, “to show that people are getting along, loving each other and serving one another in the community.”
"Stop" - Google News
November 27, 2020 at 08:00PM
https://ift.tt/33n1Jam
‘Stop the Killings, Birmingham’: Billboards track city’s homicides - AL.com
"Stop" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KQiYae
https://ift.tt/2WhNuz0
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "‘Stop the Killings, Birmingham’: Billboards track city’s homicides - AL.com"
Post a Comment