PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson held a special "Peace Not Guns" roundtable discussion Wednesday at City Hall, with teenagers from throughout the city.
Johnson set the stage with his opening remarks. "The number one killer of African American young men here in the city of Philadelphia is African American young men by homicide and gun violence," he said.
On the heels of a recent drive-by shooting in the Feltonville neighborhood, the goal of the roundtable was to hear from city youth about how gun violence is impacting them, as well as any solutions they may have.
Brielle Mitchell, 17, says it's important that adults hear them out, "because young people have a mindset of, 'Nobody is going to listen to me because I am young.'"
John Saunders, 16, lives in South Philly, and said he had been experiencing the effects of gun violence since he was about five or six. "At this point I'm numb to it, but it's still sad to see that that's still happening in Philly," he said.
Another young man suggested the promotion of what's available to keep kids out of trouble. "Just getting the information out that there are these programs, because I didn't really know about these programs until the information was given at my school."
Kayla Coleman Smith, 23, from South Philly, says she obtained her license to carry because of the violence in the streets. "I have children and we live in a community where they're stealing people's cars and robbing people, so for me, it's for protection for me and my children."
According to the Philadelphia City Controllers' Office, 11% of the city's non-fatal shooting victims have been younger than 18 years old.
Samaj O'Branty, 14, told KYW Newsradio that he was shot when he was just 10. "There's too many guns around the city. I think they should stop making them," he said, a sentiment echoed by another 14-year-old, Joshua Krippen from North Philly.
"I really just think that we need to take away guns," said Krippen. "My uncle was impacted by that, his life was taken away by gun violence."
Kids and representatives from several community groups were in attendance. Johnson plans to gather the information and present it to the full council. He also advocated for more funding for youth programs as part of his "Save Our Youth" Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposal.
