Blog 80
Join the Philly Obit Project on #GivingTuesday
CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW In this time of stress and uncertainty, there’s a basic truth that gives us hope — that together we can do extraordinary things. Over the past few weeks and months, the entire world has been coming together to stand up, help out, give back and heal. Both simple and extraordinary […]
A Mother’s View: Souls Shot Project Helps Families Heal Through Creative Portraits
When I first talked to Laura Madeleine about my son who was killed in 2017, Niam K. Johnson-Tate, I was emotionally overwhelmed and missing him so much. It was difficult to speak about him at the time, but I was intrigued about her project, Souls Shot Portrait Project, which memorializes murder victims with a painted […]
A Mother’s View: When the whole family is falling apart, all you can do is be there
As the body count adds up from so many violent acts, so many people are affected, most of all the family. And such a violent act can throw an entire family out of whack. Parents might isolate themselves because of anger, shame, fear, guilt, and let’s not forget the what if’s. Siblings feel rage, anger, […]
A Mother’s View: Healing was beginning, and then my nephew was killed
Sitting here I’m trying to collect my thoughts. I thought I was on the road of learning to live without my son but found myself consumed with a lot of familiar emotions that left me questioning myself, as well as the state of others. You see in May I received another phone call saying get […]
A Mother’s View: When emotions run high, how should we react?
With the summer fast approaching, that often means a lot of good and bad. The good is that our communities will be full of children, teens and adults spending time outside in the nicer weather. But every summer, we know the bad. The temperature heats up and emotions run just as high. That can cause […]
A Mother’s View: ‘What do we do when Grandmom cries?’
I’ll never forget the morning I broke the news to my mother that my son, Niam, was shot and was in the hospital. In an instant, she was up and dressed and ready to go to the hospital. As we entered the room my mother walked right over to Niam and gently looked over him […]
A Mother’s View: ‘When helping other families hurts, it’s not helping anybody’
As another year begins with Philadelphia’s horrible murder rate, families like mine who have lost someone naturally understand what victims’ relatives are going through. We perceive how the parent feels, what they should do, what they should expect, and how the other siblings feel. We call the parents, go to their home to ease their […]
A Mother’s View: ‘At the holidays, a shattered—not broken—heart hurts most’
Imagine getting up every day and putting your clothes on and part of your attire is a smile you have to paint on. Imagine struggling each day with your inner thoughts blaming yourself, what if I would have, did I tell my child, “I love you” enough. Is my child alright, why isn’t my child […]
A Mother’s View: ‘Even if they survive, gunshot victims are forever changed’
There are times when people are shot and thankfully, they survive. But this path can be just as devastating to a family as someone who doesn’t make it. Some of the victims feel like they should have not survived, which is called survivor’s remorse, and will try to commit suicide. They often feel like they […]
A Mother’s View: Losing a sibling to murder is a unique kind of pain
When your child cries for their sibling, it hurts more than one would know. I thought my children were coping well after my son and their brother, Niam Johnson-Tate, died from gun violence on July 5, 2017. Little did I know, they are hurting just like me or even more. Sometimes we ignore the red […]
Help support the Philadelphia Obituary Project
The city is on track to hit 500 murders in 2022. Which is why we at the Philadelphia Obituary Project, a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit charity, are asking for your support. Our mission is to tell the stories of Philadelphia’s homicide victims, and the need is greater than ever. Victims like Levan Kennedy, 18, a gifted wordsmith […]
A Mother’s View: ‘With So Many Unsolved Murders, It’s More Than a Killer At Large’
Most times while watching the news or speaking with the family of a murdered person, the story will end it like this. The killer is still on the street or the killer remains at large. This is aggravating and disturbing to me because the killer could be in the park, riding the bus, in the […]
Police recorded 41 homicides in September 2022; here are the victims’ names
At the Philadelphia Obituary Project, we treat homicide victims as individuals rather than statistics. But we are in crisis. The number of people murdered continues to rise, even during the pandemic. And so every month, we will share this data along with the names of each person in one post. Philadelphia Police recorded 41 homicides […]
A Mother’s View: ‘If your child’s actions are off, get on them’
All summer long, no matter what neighborhood you live in, you heard police sirens racing to a crime scene. Organizations canceled events. The mayor said he can’t wait until his term is over with all of this gun violence. Children can’t walk to the corner store, people can’t ride in their cars, people can’t unpack […]
Police recorded 47 homicides in August 2022; here are the victims’ names
At the Philadelphia Obituary Project, we treat homicide victims as individuals rather than statistics. But we are in crisis. The number of people murdered continues to rise, even during the pandemic. And so every month, we will share this data along with the names of each person in one post. Philadelphia Police recorded 47 homicides […]
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