In Chicago, where I live, the city provides gun violence survivors with little to no resources that center healing. I say this with personal experience supporting a young person in my family who is a survivor. Rather than providing resources that would help transition youth back to school, provide safety, transportation, and mental health support, I have witnessed how the Chicago police make youth of color feel as if these incidents are their fault.

Karla De Jesus is an organizer from the Pilsen community in Chicago. She has organized around issues of housing, police, and prisons. She strives to create a world where Black and Brown people can live in communities with resources that allow for folks to feel safe and joyful.

In 1998, in response to the brutal murders of a gay man in Wyoming and a Black man in Texas, the Federal Government passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This legislation was followed by demands for additional hate crimes legislation at both the state and federal level, which were championed as progressive legislation to counteract violence against marginalized people.