The Youth Empowerment for Advancement Hangout (YEAH Philly) team won the “Guns Change the Story” contest on Monday, August 12.
JACK TOMCZUK
Several teams of teenagers from Philadelphia gave presentations and showed videos they made about the dangers of guns as part of a pitch competition on Monday.
The winning entry – created by a group from the Youth Empowerment for Advancement hangout known as YEAH Philly – will be incorporated into a nationwide social media campaign, organizers said.
All teams included young people who had lost relatives in a shooting.
“Every time I want to go on a basketball court, there’s a fear in the back of my mind: ‘Oh, I might get shot today,'” said Zarway Kar, 15, of West Philadelphia, as he showed a comic he made about a simple argument that escalated into gunfire.
YEAH Philly, which also co-hosted the event, presented a series of harrowing public service announcement-style clips shown to a crowd at REC Philly, a studio in the Fashion District mall.
A video shows a Fourth of July barbecue, with the names and ages of the children and adults in attendance appearing on the screen, along with the sound of a pounding heart accompanying a young man in a car as his shaking hand clutches a gun.
Another shows a young girl tossing and turning in bed, interspersed with local news reports of teenage shootings.
“Everything you see affects you,” says Presley Barner, 18, a member of the YEAH Philly team. “It follows you into your sleep.”
Barner also read an article she wrote about her older cousin, Kahlief Myrick, who was shot and killed outside a 7-Eleven in Southwest Philadelphia in 2021 at the age of 16.
“Very impressive, very moving,” said Norristown Police Chief Jacqueline Bailey-Davis after the screening. “I’m just moved.”
Bailey-Davis was one of six judges who evaluated the projects. Other members of the panel included Pilar Ocampo, director of accident prevention for the city’s health department, and Kaheem Bailey-Taylor of the Philadelphia School District’s Youth Violence Prevention Program.
Each team received $2,500 for their work on the videos, and YEAH Philly’s win earned them an additional $2,500.
Contest co-host Project Unloaded plans to include the winning entry in its national marketing campaign, Guns Change the Story. The organization was founded to counter the notion that gun ownership makes young people safer.
Unity in the Community, a nonprofit organization based in South Philadelphia, produced a video for the contest that focused on teenagers whose fathers were killed in shootings.
“It was about showing the impact,” explained 16-year-old Khamir Blackson during a question-and-answer session with the judges.
Speakers also included groups from Julia R. Masterman High School and the BRAVE (Building Resilience After Violent Experiences) program at the Children Hospital of Philadelphia.
“It takes a lot of vulnerability and courage to come here and make this presentation,” Judge Tyler Wood, an assistant in Councilman Jamie Gauthier’s office, told the Unity in the Community team.
