CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Cherie Animashaun, 20, says her first memory of the danger of guns was when her mother wouldn't let her go to her favorite park anymore.
"I remember in kindergarten, I used to go to the park behind my house in Evanston, and, one day, my mom told me we couldn't go to the park anymore. She said it wasn't safe,” says Animashaun.
The Cornell University student and Evanston Township High School graduate didn't even know what a gun was, but she remembers being afraid.
"In first grade, you don't know the depth of the issue, but you can feel it,” Animashaun tells WBBM. “ I remember being terrified. For the most people I know, seeing guns growing up is almost a prerequisite to this generation."
For her and her peers, guns and gun violence have become the norm, something Nina Vinik soon realized.
"I've been working to reduce gun violence for the last 20 years,” Vinik says. “I was a young housing lawyer in the 90s, and a lot of my clients lived on the West and South Sides of the city. Gun violence was at its peak in the city, and West and South Side neighborhoods are the hardest hit by gun violence. I was tired of reading about violence happening on the blocks where my clients lived. It led me to see the ability to feel safe in our homes and communities as just a threshold issue for the ability for kids and families to thrive."
Project Unloaded, a 501(c)(3) organization, was born in 2022 after the rise of school shootings. One in particular sparked Vinik's activism.
"The young people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school, seeing their passion, commitment and energy and refusal to accept the status quo,” Vinik says. “That was my aha moment. My generation has failed to solve this problem. Maybe, we need to spend more time listening to the next generation. They are the ones impacted so deeply by this issue.
“School shootings are just the tip of the iceberg. It's the gun violence that happens in our neighborhoods and cities like Chicago and others that are so devastating to today's generation of young people."
As founder of Project Unloaded, Vinik designed the program to tap into the power of young people and social media.
"The secret sauce of what we do is really tapping into young people's love of social media and their creativity and savvy when it comes to social media,” says Vinik. “It's possible to reach the audience you want to reach at scale in a really creative, engaging way. It relies on large-scaled, data-backed social media campaigns aimed at reaching teens in conjunction with community partnerships.
“We meet young people where they are. We give them the tools to be the ones leading this cultural change when it comes to how we think about guns in our homes and communities. The organization hopes to reach young people digitally by building social media campaigns to spark action among communities impacted by gun violence. One of the recent campaigns is called ‘Guns Change the Story.’”
Vinik says Project Unloaded was modeled after the anti-smoking campaigns that shifted Americans' view on smoking.
"I looked for other models that we might learn from where there has been a successful shift in beliefs and awareness leading to culture change and improved public health outcomes,” Vinik says. “Cigarette smoking is one of them. We took a look at the work of organizations like the Truth Initiative and all that they have done so successfully to shift the narrative when it comes to smoking by empowering young people to lead that change."
She says the nonprofit works outside the policy and political arena by focusing on broader cultural trends that are driving gun use and gun violence.
"We reach young people because they are still making up their minds about gun violence,” says Vinik. “When you talk to adults, it's much harder to get them to change their views, but young people are different. They are still forming their views, and they are hungry for information."
In a short three years, the organization has recruited tens of thousands of young people across the nation who want to make a difference in their communities.
"They feel like it's impossible to make progress policy-wise, but, when they learn about what we do and how they can take action that is simple as posting a video or creating some content to post to their social network, that is something very tangible that they already know how to do,” Vinik says.
“That can make a difference in connecting with their peers in sending the message that gun violence is preventable, guns do not make us safer, and that little by little, by sharing those messages far and wide, we can chip away at the gun culture that is driving so much violence."
Thirty percent of Gen Z say they've had a personal experience with gun violence. The number goes up in large cities.
"It's amazing how many members of Gen Z have a connection to gun violence,” Vinik says.
Animashaun is on the youth council. She says it's about reaching out to her peers and changing the narrative.
"Since this has become our norm, we've become louder and more passionate,” she tells WBBM. “We take this personally. We know that the issue can affect us the minute we go to school, the minute we walk down the street, the minute we go to a family gathering. The work has become so much of a lifestyle. It's something we can't separate.”
Ending gun violence, Vinik says, starts with the truth.
"One thing we know is where there are more guns, there is more gun violence, not less,” says Vinik. “Most people have bought into the myth, sold to us by the gun industry, that having a gun will keep us safe, when the truth is the exact opposite: Guns make us less safe."
Project Unloaded has already reached a quarter of all U.S. teens through social media and community partnerships.
"We partner with After School Matters, CPS, Choose to Change and groups like that,” says Vinik. “We have already reached more than 175,000 people in Chicago in the communities hit by gun violence and we're just getting started.”
Vinik says the message has become a mission for her and deeply personal for the thousands of young leaders working to make the change.
"It's combining the love of social media with the message about the risks of having and using guns that really is what sets Project Unloaded apart and what has connected with so many young people we've worked with,” Vinik says.
“My work with Project Unloaded gives me hope. Young people are fed up with our institutions failing to solve this problem. They are feeling like they have the power to make a change. Letting them loose, empowering them to make that change, they step up to the plate every time. That gives me hope for a safer future with young people leading the way. It's so personal for this generation, it's going to lead them to change. "
For more information about the organization, log onto projectunloaded.org.
Its 2024 annual report can be accessed here.
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