Stories
Up the Block is a Philadelphia-based project from The Trace, the only U.S. newsroom that exclusively covers gun violence. As you browse our resources, these stories from our publication might help you understand the broader crisis and its potential solutions.
In a Virtual Classroom, How Do You Care for Kids Threatened by Gun Violence?
On a screen full of faces, the lone black square rang alarm bells for the Philadelphia teacher. The boy on the other side hadn’t turned on his camera and his microphone was muted. According to the rules for remote learning at John B. Stetson Charter School, the student was supposed to keep his laptop camera on during class. The teacher alerted Edwin Desamour, the dean at the middle school.
A few days later, during a meeting with the student and his mother, Desamour discovered that the 13-year-old student and his mother had been without a consistent home since the school reopened in late August. They’d been bouncing from space to space, staying with friends and family — and the student was keeping his camera off and staying quiet in class to avoid bothering his hosts. “The kid said, ‘I don’t want to make too much noise on the computer in someone else’s house,’” Desmamour explained. The boy had also figured that if other students couldn’t see he was relocating, they wouldn’t ask him about it. “He didn’t want kids to see that he was changing houses,” Desamour added.
The school had adopted uniforms so kids wouldn’t have to explain why they didn’t own the newest pair of jeans, but teachers hadn’t considered that students might feel judged for their backdrops during virtual classes. “Before, you got teased for clothes,” Desamour said, “and now it’s because a kid sees the background of your house.”
With school districts around the country operating remotely to avoid spreading COVID-19, teachers and administrators are confronting a full range of complications caused by virtual learning. In Philadelphia, educators have tried to address a specific challenge: When kids aren’t spending time in classrooms, it’s harder to keep them safe. Close to 1,450 people have already been shot in the city this year, eclipsing the total for all of 2019. The violence has taken an especially cruel toll on Philadelphia’s children. On the first day of classes for public schools, a quadruple shooting left two teens dead and two more wounded. Jaheim Lamarre and Zahquesz McFadden, both 17, were two of the 13 children killed by gun violence this year, and among the 111 children injured by gunfire.
Philadelphia Embraced Larry Krasner’s Progressive Vision. But He May Be Running Out of Time.
In January 2018, Larry Krasner walked into the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office fresh from a historic victory. A PBS camera crew followed, capturing him and his core staff mapping out a plan to drop prosecution of a series of low-level offenses, including possession of small amounts of marijuana, crack and powder cocaine possession under a few grams, and prostitution. The meeting offered Krasner more than just a chance to set policy. As he sat back in his chair and declared the old ways of thinking about prosecution in Philadelphia had to go, no matter the political consequences, Krasner was girding his office for battle.
“A lot of the entrenched power in the city believes in things based on ideas they formed 25 years ago, and they are going to attack us for doing different things,” Krasner said.
“Then we make decisions that we have to own for better or worse,” he added, shrugging before the camera faded.
“Philly D.A.,” an eight-part, Independent Lens documentary from PBS, kicks off in the early days of Larry Krasner’s first term. We see the new prosecutor taking selfies with constituents, glowing with optimism. His agenda: Beyond slowing the tide of drug-based incarceration, he saw the war on guns as another example of a criminal justice system tilted against Black and Latinx residents. During his first two years in office, Krasner supported an effort to redirect those arrested for basic firearm possession into rehabilitation programs like the ones courts prescribe for drug arrests.
But as Krasner runs for reelection in a May 18 primary, the honeymoon is over. Philadelphia’s homicide rate soared in 2020, and Krasner’s position on guns has drawn criticism from all corners. The city’s police are using the crime surge and Krasner’s tactics against him. “Krasner’s catch-and-release plan is not working,” said John McNesby, who leads the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police union. “We have people on the street who should not be on the street.”
‘We Deserve for You to Protect Us:’ After A Grim Year of Shootings, Philadelphians Want Action
Residents tell us what they want city leaders to do to make them safer — but say earning their trust will be an uphill battle.