A monologue written from the perspective of Philadelphia imploring its citizens to put down the guns starts a conversation about gun violence. Featuring conversations with Tyler Riddick , a senior at the U School who wrote the monologue after her friend was killed by a stray bullet; Jose Ferran , a peer intervention specialist at Healing Hurt People who survived a gunshot to the arm in 2011; Leonard Chester , founder of The Overcame Foundation; and Jerrick Medrano , who performs the monologue and opens up about his own experiences with gun violence. Recorded LIVE at The U School in North Philly.

Use your voice to stand for equality and peace among each other. Your voice is greater
than the gun. I know that this solution may not be easy and it will take some time but time is not on your side. You have to stand up now. — from "Restore My Brotherly Love" by Tyler Riddick* * *

Connections

The U School readies ALL young people for college and careers by supporting students to accept challenges and opportunities through: student agency, real-world problem-solving, developing engaging high-quality products with the purpose of demonstrating mastery , and to push the boundaries of seat time through asynchronous learning.

Recognizing that victims of violence too often have symptoms of trauma that go untreated, Healing Hurt People (HHP) offers a hospital-based intervention to address the psychological and physical wounds of trauma. HHP is a program for people ages 8-30 who have been shot, stabbed, or assaulted and are seen in a hospital for treatment. The ultimate goals of the program are to help victims heal from their physical and emotion wounds in order to break the cycle of violence, by connecting them to needed behavioral health, physical health and life skills resources.

HHP is supported by the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services and Drexel University.

The Overcame Foundation, Inc. (OVC) was founded in October 2015. Founder, Leonard Chester had a vision to help the youth and young adults in underprivileged environments and together he and co-founder Jade Harper brought that vision to life. Currently, The Foundation is serving communities in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Creating platforms for talented youth across the two cities, The Overcame Foundation strives to teach young people how to be leaders through education, service, wellness and visual arts. Ultimately the organization is striving to provide scholarships and book awards to youth who work hard to overcome adversity.

Further Reading & Resources

FOLLOW @NoGunZone on Instagram.

READ this article featuring episode guest Jose Ferran, via Philly.com.

LEARN about the gun violence statistics quoted in Tyler's monologue and in the episode.

About the Performer

JERRICK MEDRANO

Jerrick is a Philadelphia-based actor, a 2015 graduate from Esperanza Academy Charter High School where he majored in Theater, and currently a Theater major at the Community College of Philadelphia. He is a writer - his play For a Good Investment won first place and was produced as at Temple University. He has been a featured actor in the Mouthful Monologue Festival in 2017 and 2018, and also worked on Marty Pottenger's #Phillysavesearth at Painted Bride.

"Restore My Brotherly Love" was directed by Mitchell Bloom.