Mother’s Day

Urban gun violence does not take days off or celebrate a particular holiday as sacred and therefore gun violence-free. On the contrary, holidays take on particular significance, allowing a load public statement to be made pertaining to power, grievance, and retribution, without regard to place, time, and collateral consequences. Mother’s Day stands out as an example that gun violence does not take a holiday. It does not mean that fathers, siblings, and grandparents, for example, are not exempt from gun violence on this day, however. Nevertheless, mothers, including grandmothers, are not cast into keeping the peace and providing help to other family members in grieving their lost children, who happen to be predominantly males. As a result, this chapter sets the direction for examining other public event shootings to follow.