Their nightmare started with a note the coroner left on the front door of their home while Sharmaine Brown and her husband, James, were away caring for an ailing out-of-town relative: “Call the medical examiner’s office regarding the following case number … ”
Over a $30 dispute that didn’t involve him, their 23-year-old son had been killed when a gunman sprayed bullets at a weekend cookout.
The Stonecrest, Georgia, couple was devastated.
They also were flabbergasted. While they had repeatedly talked to Jared Brown, their Black son, about how to avoid being shot by police, they had not foreseen nor taught him any defenses against the random circumstances of his death.
Courtesy of Sharmaine Brown
Sharmaine Brown
“Jared had never experienced gun violence,” said Sharmaine, who, after that July 2015 murder, launched Jared’s Heart of Success, aiming to teach youth how to avoid violence. “We would hear about young people having been shot and it was something we would always talk to him about.”
The organization, going into its eighth year, works with 8- to 18-year-olds, many from Atlanta-area neighborhoods plagued with the sort of gun violence that took away the Browns’ son. Participants are schooled in how to defuse combustible situations, avoid drugs and alcohol and become leaders. Brown, a certified grief and intervention counselor, and other counselors also keep an eye out for those who need more help.
“Just about everyone has heard of someone who has been impacted by gun violence,” Brown said. “It has emotional and behavioral effects. They have issues in school, they have trouble sleeping, they have anger issues, they have trouble focusing.”
Using a combination of in-school and after-school programs and summer courses that address bullying, leadership, etiquette and other issues that affect violence, Jared’s Heart of Success has worked with more than 500 young people, Brown said. The organization is funded through individual donations and sponsorships from companies and advocacy groups.
Shortly after LaTayla Billingslea’s cousin was shot and killed by a romantic partner about five years ago, the 18-year-old attended one of Brown’s seminars on dating violence. The talk helped pull her out of depression, she said.
“I was sleeping a whole lot more,” said Billingslea, now a Gordon State College student. “I found that school wasn’t as fulfilling. And just hanging with friends, it felt like I didn’t belong, like I was something of an outsider.”
Jared’s Heart of Success helped Billingslea understand her emotions and channel them into advocacy. She later volunteered with the organization, helping to run its STEM literacy program.
With the COVID-19 pandemic’s surge in gun crimes among juveniles, the organization ramped up its efforts, Brown said. Requests for the group’s counseling services doubled, she said.
“We definitely try to work with kids who are at higher risk,” Brown said, referring to those targeted for recruitment by gangs. “We look for kids who have problems with impulse control, kids with low self-esteem. It has been challenging.”
Another aspect of the organization's work is guiding student activists, including those from Atlanta’s 2,100-student Lakeside High School, where Brown has been mentoring students in their efforts to reduce gun violence by changing gun laws.
[Related: The extraordinary surge in gun-carrying by teens comes with a heavy cost]
Jared’s Heart of Success has funded several of Lakeside’s programs, said René Lovelace, an assistant principal whose son was shot to death at a party in 2018. Most of those programs focus on preventing isolation and bullying, both of which can lead to fights and gun violence.
“It has made a difference,” she said.
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Matt Krupnick is a Chicago-based journalist who covers inequality, education and other topics.