Over the 2022 Christmas holidays, Dr K convened a group to discuss grief over the holidays, as many families get together and face missing seats at the table. While death touches many families due to illness, the discussion focused on the outsize impact of gun violence on families and communities. It looked at the three slain students at UVA who were not only talented student athletes, but sons from communities who will grieve for them.
This discussion, however, is just one of a number of in-depth posts carried by My Uzima on gun violence.
The panel, which comprised three leading Black mental health experts, discussed how black and underserved families and communities grapple with grief and death by gun violence. There are other topics for families and communities impacted by gun violence covering other aspects and instances that serve as a MyUzima resource to individuals grappling with the subject, including the following articles:
A podcast on the rise of gun violence as it relates to health, both mentally and physically, with Dr Erich Conrad, MD, FACLP. He is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) and speaks about the process of healing gun violence trauma at University Medical Center in New Orleans. In the podcast, he discusses the effects traumatic injuries caused by gun violence can have on individuals and communities and how recovery services are needed for not only the patient, but the community that experienced the traumatic events as well.
A podcast on how trauma psychology addresses the ways humans respond to stressors—especially stressors that are life-threatening or have the threat of causing psychological or physical harm. It covers the importance of trauma recovery services after individuals experience traumatic injuries, such as a gunshot, to help prevent acute post-traumatic stress and other mental health conditions that arise from these situations. Working at a level one trauma center, Dr Erika Rajo sees individuals immediately after an event—whether that’s a car accident, gunshot, or another trauma. Dr Rajo PsyD is the Director of the University Medical Center, New Orleans Trauma Recovery Clinic (UMCNO), specializing in trauma psychology.
A PSA produced by My Uzima on gun violence, created to bring awareness on increasing gun violence in the United States of America’s urban Cities. There has been more than a 34% increase in gun violence in mass shootings as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022) from 2019 – 2020. According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2022), “Nationally, children of color, especially Black children, experience greater exposure to neighborhood firearm violence than White children. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated these racial disparities.” The PSA highlights the need to focus on firearm violence prevention so that communities under siege in cities like Chicago, New York, New Orleans, and Atlanta can empower themselves to work on strategies and policies that solve this gun violence epidemic.
Interviews by Dr K in a two-part series with a panel of experts and physicians surrounding the rise of gun violence and the need for a cease fire, and in particular Dr Rahn Bailey. The two-part series discusses the psychological, physical, racial, and sociological implications the rise of gun violence has on individuals and communities, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Rahn Bailey MD, is a forensic psychiatrist and Chairman of LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans Department of Psychiatry.
Part One of Gun Point: We need a Cease-Fire
Part Two of Gun Point: We need a Cease-fire
For visitors to our site seeking more information on the subject, there is additional content and we would encourage you to use site search on key words like gun violence, trauma, etc.
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