Shooting survivor uses music to reach youth at Stop the Violence rally
By Grace Rodriguez
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SAVANNAH, Georgia (WJCL) — A community rally held Saturday at the Hudson Hill Community Center put faces and personal stories behind local efforts to stop gun violence.
Jamario Hazel, a survivor who now uses music to reach young people, described how a shooting left him in a wheelchair.
“Me and a neighborhood friend, we got into an argument, and he shot me, and that’s how I ended up in a wheelchair,” Hazel said. “A lot of my brothers that I went through that struggle with are either doing a lot of time, or dead and in the grave.”
Organizers said the Stop the Violence rally focused on connecting youth with resources and mentors willing to intervene early. One of those groups is Savannah’s Building Bridges.
“We are in the hood. We put ourselves in the hood for that reason, to make ourself available for the people who just don’t know where to run to,” Rashad Jones with Building Bridges said. “It’s not snitching. You know what I’m saying? You’re not telling on nobody. All you’re doing is relieving yourself.”
Organizers say the message for the rally is simple. It’s not just about preventing violence; it’s about saving lives.
“We have organizations. We have leaders that are standing strong in the fight to reduce those numbers,” said Jimmie Johnson, the senior director of the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement for the city of Savannah.
Faith leaders and advocates agree that violence doesn’t exist in a vacuum.
“We have too many children being killed by gun violence,” Reverend Alan Maynor said. “If we can attack poverty, maybe we can get a handle on violent crimes.”
Others want people to remember that every voice and every life matters.
“A house divided against itself won’t stand. And so we have to give respect and honor to what they do, and we all have to put down our silos and just come together and recognize that guess what? We need help. We need help, and we need the Lord,” attendee Todd Rhodes said.
For Hazel, he says it’s a reality too many young people don’t think will ever touch them… until it does.
“If I can get one person to listen and that one person can go and find another one person to listen, and then it just keeps going on, and I’m happy with that,” Hazel said.
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