Mothers Memorialize Children Lost to Gun Violence with Christmas Tree Ornaments

Mothers who’ve lost children to gun violence hang Christmas Tree ornaments with photos of the loved one lost, on the Christmas Tree of Love, as part of the Purpose over Pain program at St. Sabina Church, 1210 W. 78th Pl. in Chicago, during a recent gathering to celebrate and memorialize their children.
Mothers who’ve lost children to gun violence hang Christmas Tree ornaments with photos of the loved one lost, on the Christmas Tree of Love, as part of the Purpose over Pain program at St. Sabina Church, 1210 W. 78th Pl. in Chicago, during a recent gathering to celebrate and memorialize their children.

As many of us celebrate Christmas with gift giving, and bring in the New Year reflecting on good times, others are finding it hard to enjoy the Holidays, because they are trying to cope with the pain of losing a child to Chicago’s ongoing gun violence, such as Englewood mother, Tonya Burch.

“My son, DeOntae Smith, 19, was at a party in 2009 when a fight broke out,” recalled Burch of how her son died the victim of gun violence. “He and his friends were leaving a party when somebody in the crowd started shooting. He was hit in his back and ran a block before he fell.”

Burch finds some solace as a participant in the Purpose over Pain program at St. Sabina Church, 1210 W. 78th Pl. in Chicago, where mothers who lost children to gun violence memorialize and celebrate their children by encasing photos of them in a Christmas tree ornament. The ornaments are then placed on the "Christmas Tree Love."

Annette Holt, Tom and Pamela Bosely and Alice Norris, started the program.

“The number of ornaments on the tree, sadly, with the kids being killed, continuous to grow since the program started,” said Burch. “With shootings reported on the news, I live my own child’s death all over again. It’s a pain that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Losing my child took away a part of me.

For parents who participate in the program and make the memorial ornaments, it’s a way to feel that their children are with them during the holiday season."

“We want to see it stop and we want to see different happy things on the tree, not the faces of more children who were killed,” Burch said.

Children also take part in the activities via the mentoring arm of Purpose over Pain program.

“I tell the kids that violence is not the way,” Burch said.

According to Julie Eschelbach, Health Communication Specialist at the Centers for Disease Control, homicide is the leading cause of death for African Americans, age 9-30.

When asked if the CDC considers Black youth violence/homicides an epidemic, Eschelback replied, “I've checked with our experts, and we use the term “epidemic” in reference to the sudden or unexpected change in a health problem.  The sharp rise and fall in youth homicides that occurred in the late 1980s (peaking in 1993) and then dropping sharply in the latter part of the 1990s is more consistent with an “epidemic”.  That being said, people also refer to the disproportionate number of people affected. Homicide is the leading cause of death for Black youth, the 2nd leading cause for other minority youth, and the 3rd leading cause of death for all youth ages 10-24. Homicide, though, is just the tip of the iceberg. Youth violence also includes non-fatal assaults treated in emergency departments, physical fighting on/off school grounds, bullying, gang-related violence, threats with weapons, etc. When you factor in the full spectrum of the problem, it becomes clear that youth violence is a significant problem that negatively impacts all young people in all communities whether they experience it as perpetrators, victims, or witnesses.”

Chicago in 2012 made national news with the city’s 509 homicides in just the one year, according to DNAinfo, a news outlet that tracks Chicago homicides.

Twelve people were murdered in just the first six days of 2013. By the end of that year, 421 people were murdered.

Over the July 4th holiday weekend, this year, 82 shootings with 14 deaths became part of Chicago’s history with victims whose names gave way to numbers—some of whom were in gangs, some who were not. By Dec., 19, this year, there were 399 murders, where the majority were shooting victims and who were African American.

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