Atlanta mothers, crime survivors pack up and travel to DC for march

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Takesia Shields remembers why she wanted to help survivors of crime.

“Lived experience – being a mother, having a son that’s incarcerated, having kids that have been birthed into the community, their life taken away,” said Shields.

She leads Mothers Against Gang Violence, an Atlanta-based group aiming to promote peace. On Sunday night, they packed up to head to Washington, D.C., for the Crime Survivors Speak march.

“This march is going to be able to teach them that you have rights,” said Shields.

The nation’s capital will see thousands of crime victims gathering to share their personal experiences.

Aswad Thomas is national director for Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice. He lives in Atlanta and is also traveling to D.C. Notably, he’s also a victim of gun violence.

“I was shot twice in my back while leaving a corner store in Hartford, Connecticut, where I lived at the time,” Thomas said. “And like so many victims in Connecticut and in the city of Atlanta, I never received any services or resources after that incident.”

Thomas is joining hands with Atlanta groups like Mothers Against Gang Violence to be a voice for the voiceless, and ask lawmakers for more help for victims.

“That solution is actually listening to crime victims about what they think safety is and what safety looks like,” said Thomas.

Ultimately when they all return next week, they hope lawmakers not only heard them, but plan to listen and act on many aspects, especially helping victims.

“Metro Atlanta is a huge area. We need more trauma recovery centers,” said Thomas.

“We want to make sure that these trauma centers have wraparound services for the families, so that they can go and people can understand and care about the things that they need,” said Shields.

Some have expressed the need for changing gun laws. Georgia 2nd Amendment responded to Atlanta News First with a statement:

“We at GA2A are also against gang violence. Gang members do not purchase firearms from licensed gun dealers and subject themselves to background checks. Most of the gang members are not of legal age to purchase firearms legally and most who are of legal age are prohibited due to their felonious police records.

We applaud the effort to curb the gang violence but insist that it be done without infringing the rights of law abiding firearms owners.”

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