LEXINGTON, Ky — “What we don’t understand with gun violence is, there is no win-win situation,” said Andre Wilson
Wilson knows the issues of gun violence far too well. He’s seen three of his family members shot, two of those being his sons.
"What I mean by that is somebodies going to lose a loved one, somebody is going to prison, and somebody is just going to be destructed with trauma," Wilson added.
Wilson speaks from experience as someone who has been incarcerated in the past. The time he spent in prison made him realize how important it was for him to serve the community and the children, to make sure they didn’t make the same mistakes he did.
Tiffany Brown also suffers from her own trauma, as she is a domestic abuse survivor. Her background led her to be a speaker at One Lexington’s Symposium on Youth and Young Adult Gun Violence.
“For me this is purpose work. You can’t do this type of work without having some type of stake in the game,” Brown said. “Not everyone has a voice and so it’s up to us who know better, to do better. And to be a voice for those in our community who need to be represented."
Based on her past experiences, Brown decided to make a career out of social change. She serves as the chief equity and implementation officer in the Mayor’s office. She says that the decrease in homicide rates from last year, compared to 2022, is promising, but it’s just a trend.
“We recognize that crime has gone down. But those trends can change at any moment. And we have to be ready to address them,” Brown said.
She believes that change can only come from the ground floor. Being a mother to five kids helped her realize that children nowadays have a platform that she didn’t have growing up.
"They now have the power of social media. And I tell children all the time, the same way they share the bad stuff, the same way they can promote, and advocate for the change they want in their community," she added.
But at the same time, Brown and Wilson both understand that the choice of violence is there. They hope their efforts are far reaching and that youth understand one decision can affect their lives forever.
“And I tell them time and time again, you make that bad choice, and fire that gun, there is a consequence,” Wilson concluded.
