Each day, we experience another death, another tragedy, another loss of life to violence, and we have no answers. There are many people–good people–working to help families and the community cope with the hurt and pain that comes with loss, particularly tragic loss.
As we at Scoop try to support our communities, victims and families, we have partnered with Zarinah Lomax and The Apologues to respect those we have lost by sharing portraits and brief introductions into the lives of the families that The Apologues’ has featured.
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Artist: Queen Picasso (Brittney Glover)
As One (Portrait of co-victims Movita and Yancy Harrell)
Victims: Charles and Donte Johnson
Artist Statement: This project reminded me that we need each other in so many ways as a community. Many times, families are left to grieve alone when the funeral is over. I’m so honored to be able to use my gifts to touch the hearts of families who have lost loved ones due to violence. My heart and prayers are constantly with them because grieving never stops. Art is life.
Charles Johnson, Charles Johnson was murdered on Jan. 15, 2011, three years to-the-day after moving from Philadelphia to a better neighborhood to escape violence at the young age of 18. Charles was killed in a case of mistaken identity. His brother Donte stood beside his family fighting for justice and peace in Philadelphia alongside his mother and father, Movita and Yancy Harrell.
Donte Johnson, Unfortunately, in March 2021, Donte would suffer the same fate of dying by gun violence while on a trip to California with friends–at age of 31. They leave behind a trail of emotions and a family left to still find answers. Movita and Yancy have been a unit fighting for justice for years. Although Movita is a trailblazer in her own right, her husband Yancy is always beside her, and they are the co-victims reflected in the portraits in their sons’ remembrance.
Movita says: There’s a hole where Charles should be. Now that hole has deepened after suffering a second loss of her only surviving son.
What is The Apologues?
The Apologues (under the fiscal sponsorship of the Federation of Neighborhood Centers) is a fashion and art exhibit that uses the arts to assist individuals in healing, empowering themselves, and advocating against gun violence and trauma that plague urban communities. Through the use of fashion, art, and music, The Apologues honors the emotions of untreated trauma through the realm of storytelling to trigger healing. We do this through the combination of self-portraits of victims and co-victims, wearable art, and musical experiences combined.
For more information and to support this initiative, visit our website, https://www.theapologues.org
