Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange with Mia Reid

Richard Dodds 0:00
Coming up later in the episode,

Mia Reid 0:02
our child was murdered, we are hurting on the inside, we are changed forever. We are going to grieve forever, that does not go away. So when this happens over and over, it almost seems as though we send our thoughts and prayers. And then what these people are grieving. I’m grieving, it does not go away, you learn to cope, and hopefully those that need additional help they seek out that help.

Richard Dodds 0:35
This is still talking about like a show about giving perspectives to issues that black people face every day. I’m your host, Richard DODDS. Today is June 3 2022. And this year is Gun Violence Awareness Day. The plan was always to have me back on the show to tell her story, and talk about gun violence prevention. But I never thought it would be under these circumstances. The day we recorded the upcoming interview was directly after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 elementary school students and two teachers that just 10 days after shooting in Buffalo, New York, where a white supremacist, murdered 10 Black people at a supermarket. We can’t let this become our normal or get so numb to it that we stop seeking justice and change. For us on the outside looking in. We stopped for a moment, send well wishes and prayers, and then we move on with our lives. But for all of those families dealing with loss have their children taken far too soon. They never get to move on. This is not a partisan issue. It’s a people issue. And if the representatives we elected, refuse to fulfill the will of the people and protect us, then we need to find and elect those people who will.

Mia Reid 2:03
Hello everybody. I am Mia Reid. I am the founder and CEO of change happens today which is a mental health practice located in Southfield, Michigan. And I’m also the founder of the Charles W. Ri Community Help Center, which is a nonprofit, that services families that have been impacted by gun violence and poverty.

Richard Dodds 2:29
Well, welcome back, you were on our mental health episode, I’m really happy to get you back to tell us more about your story. And it’s time to talk about something that’s just as serious as mental health. But gun violence. We talked about your story last time you’re on the show, can you tell us your story where what got you to where you are now, what led you to start your foundation?

Mia Reid 2:52
Yes, I am a gun violence survivor. My son Charles Reed was taken by gun violence in June of 2011. And one of the things that really inspired my journey with mental health is because I found the courage to seek out help. And it really worked. And because in our community in my community, where I grew up, mental health counseling has a stigma attached to it. So finding that courage to be different to reach out for help. And it being successful, was probably one of the best things for me. And so now I share those tools and strategies with the community through the nonprofit that I found it the Charles W. Ri Community Help Center, which is in memory of my son. So that’s my purpose. And you because we focus on families that have been impacted by gun violence, the mental health piece is probably the most important piece because oftentimes, you know, black people, we don’t get help, we don’t get help. Health wise sometimes, you know, we just keep going, and we don’t get help mentally. And we just carry all of that in our backpack and it weighs us down. And we don’t realize oftentimes why we feel the way we feel or why we react. And so just having that resource to be able to process just every day being a black person in America, that alone having that opportunity or that safe space, to be able to process that information with someone is probably the difference between having bad days often or having some really good day.

Richard Dodds 5:01
I know in a black community, it seems like I’m glad to see that there is a movement towards more mental health and going to get counseling when you need counseling. But overall in America, do you think that mental health is something that isn’t emphasized enough?

Mia Reid 5:18
I think lately, there’s a trend, where as people feel more comfortable talking about mental health services and taking advantage of having a therapist. And I also think that because it’s a trend, a lot of people haven’t really gone out to actually seek out a therapist more so getting information via social media, or friends, or coaches, which coaches are not bad. But seeing someone that is a licensed therapist, it makes a huge difference. And so when they actually take advantage of those resources, they will see a difference. And with so much violence going on in the country. Now, you know, you have vicarious trauma, you don’t have to necessarily be personally impacted. But just seeing that violence over and over, especially the violence against people that look like you, it could cause PTSD, it could cause depression, anxiety. And so, you know, taking all of that into consideration, I would always suggest to everybody to, you know, seek out a therapist, not not just because you have something major going on, but just the process, what’s going on in the country to have somebody to talk to, in a safe space, somewhere, you won’t feel like you’re being judged somewhere, that your information is going to be confidential,

Richard Dodds 7:00
is something and thinking about it from both sides of the spectrum. There are definitely individuals in this world who need attention to keep them from doing things that they will regret or things to horrific things at times. And on that on the other side, you have minorities and marginalized groups that are more subject to have to deal with gun violence, whether it’s from their people in their own community, whether it’s people police officers is as both sides. So to have to carry that way you say that PTSD is it is something to walk around. And either side, you know, you could be in a suburb, something can happen. You could be in the hurt, and something happened. And it’s just Where’s it coming from? And it’s just a constant thing. We all kind of carry with us. And sometimes you forget about how big of a burden that is. And you don’t process it, it just becomes a normal thing. But just because there’s no one What does not mean that it’s healthy.

Mia Reid 7:59
Absolutely. And we don’t want to become desensitized to all of the violence that’s occurring. And as you said, Yes, blacks are disproportionately impacted by gun violence and are 10 times more likely than whites to die. So with that being said, we do know that racism exists. Yeah, it’s just

Richard Dodds 8:23
and with so many tragedies that’s coming back to back now. And if if you’re listening, and you hear our voices are a little bit heavier, just because just even before recording this something just happened. And it just seems like every every day in the news, or there’s something else happening. So in your opinion, what what would you say is the reason why do you think America seems to have so much more gun violence compared to other countries?

Mia Reid 8:50
Well, our gun laws number one, and just having that access, you know, when you have 18 year olds that have access to purchasing a weapon, we know that’s a problem. And so we know that their brains are not even fully developed to make rational decisions, and for them to be able to purchase a firearm, something that could kill more than one person at a time. And I think about those babies, 14 Babies are murdered today in Texas. And I think about those parents and it hurts my heart. It just makes me so sad. Because it’s not the natural order of life to lose a child and traveling that journey of my child being taken by gun violence, my child being murdered, and it was so devastating and challenging because it’s not the natural order of life. And so I wouldn’t say I’m triggered, but it makes me think about the journey that they are about to embark on. And it is going to be rough. And it makes me sad

Richard Dodds 10:19
and sad, senseless. And every time it happens, we look towards legislation. And we say, Why? Why is this still going on? Why is this still happening? Why haven’t we figured this out. And it’s such a political issue that we can’t even get both sides to agree long enough to pass a law that could save somebody’s life.

Mia Reid 10:43
And, you know, not to choose sides or make it a partisan issue, but kind of it is because you do have one side that is fighting really hard to bring bills that will make us safer. And then you have another side that is not even given those bills a chance to be heard. And I live in Michigan, and Michigan has very weak gun laws. This, this state has no laws requiring background checks on unlicensed rifles and shotgun sales, no extreme risk laws, and no laws prohibiting domestic abusers from possessing guns. So that in itself makes us very safe. So what we need to do, as a country, as a state as a community, our legislators work for us. And we have to hold them accountable. And so it is our job to make sure that we are calling them make sure that we are writing to them, make sure that we are going to their place of employment, which is the state capitol and lobbying and letting them know that we are not safe. Our family is not safe. Our children are not safe. Our community is not safe, and what are they going to do about it? And thoughts and prayers are not enough?

Richard Dodds 12:13
No, especially when it just occurred so frequently. And you hear the thought they said that it slowed down during the pandemic, because it had ramped up so much then every other week, it was something going on. And it’s just like, when is enough enough? when is enough enough? And I mean, the truth is the truth that has been a partisan thing it is it is one party that has been keeping progress from happening. And you think about these children now that are gone, and they didn’t have to be gone. And it just really just breaks your heart to think about that. I don’t know how you could be any kind of political figure and see something like that happen. And I say, I said a day more to make sure that this couldn’t happen. That we should at least try to do something. But you willingly you see it and you’ve seen it before you’ve seen it and Sandy Hook, you now in Texas, we seen it in Buffalo. It’s just continuously going on. And nothing is happening. Like how can you I don’t know how you live without what those things happen. And that should be on your conscience because these are people that you have sworn to protect We the People.

Mia Reid 13:30
Yes, yes. And I agree with you. And I respect the second amendment. What I have a problem with is if you’re a legal gun owner, what is bad about you storing your firearm safely and securely so that no one has access to it. Because you know, there are so many things that we cannot control. But the one thing that we can control is what happens in our homes. And we can make a difference by making sure that our firearms if we are illegal gun owners are stored safe. And that’s one of the bills the safe gun storage. It is just saying that if you are a legal firearm owner and you are not storing your firearm safely, you will be held accountable. So the best thing to do is to lock it up because it will prevent someone in your home or someone visiting you getting access to your firearm, taking it out into the community and harming someone.

Richard Dodds 14:48
I’m even reminded of a of something that happened with a student who went to school and I mean there’s there’s so many different storylines and why or his classmates. And that was the first time that they had ever put the parents on trial along with them. And I thought that was, I thought that was such an important thing, just because there’s a certain point where you have to be accountable. Because I think I even think about myself as a as a young man, you know, a certain times where, you know, when you’re younger, you don’t always know how to control your emotions. And some people will never learn, like, I know some hot headed people who probably shouldn’t never own a weapon, because one slip of instability for a moment, and you’re doing something that you cannot take back. And you know, so it has to be more accountability, not only to the people committing these crimes, but to the people that are enabling them to commit these crimes.

Mia Reid 15:47
Absolutely. And, and there are individuals that should never have access to a firearm, even if they are at the legal age to purchase it. Usually people like you said, that are hothead, or some people that even have some emotional issues, they have a pattern. And so that’s where background checks come in. And there’s a pause there, and let’s double check and see if this person should even possess a firearm.

Richard Dodds 16:21
Yeah, it’s just it just seems like a simple things that we could do. And it just, it’s just sad that there’s so much politics involved and and saving lives. And I think, I think that’s what a majority of the things going on in the world. And it’s just kind of crazy, crazy to see it. And it’s really unnerving. Is this, like, let it like, let’s let’s figure it out, I think you got put your head down. We can send money to Ukraine. We can, we could try to help politic all over the world. But there’s so many issues that are going on within our own country. And a lot of times it’s happening more as felt more and marginalized communities. And I guess, are we saying that people in Ukraine are more important than that more important to deal with the people and these marginalized communities? It’d be things that’s going on, it’s no money to do these things. But we can send billions of dollars over there, which I’m not saying I’m sending Ukraine, helping people in Ukraine is important, and we should help other people in the world. But we need to make more of an effort to help the people in the United States.

Mia Reid 17:29
Absolutely. I think part of the problem is, is not so much that it should be political, I think that the politicians need to listen to their constituents, because 80% of legal gun owners agree that safe gun storage is good. But they’re not listening to their constituents, they’re listening to a small pocket of individuals that may not I can even say they may not understand what safe gun storage is. Because some people get, you know, they get uptight, you know, with someone telling them, you know, how they should run their home, how they should store their firearms, because in their mind, something has worked for them in the past, and they don’t see anything changing. And safe gun storage is saying that, yeah, that may continue to work. But there is a slight chance that it may not why take that chance. Yeah, that is all safe gun storage is saying, let’s be safe, let’s be smart, and lock a firearm, so no one gets access to it. And for the life of me, I cannot understand where that’s negative.

Richard Dodds 18:52
Aside from talking to our politicians, what are ways that individually we can contribute to try to help curb the gun violence and especially in the black community, but just everywhere in general?

Mia Reid 19:08
Oh, wow. There are so many ways but the best way is to find out the organizations in your community that are doing the work. There are so many organizations in different communities all over the country. In my state, I There are so many I can’t count that have been doing the work for many years. And they do marches they, they help the community with with food, they help the community with shelter because it’s not just the gun violence you you have to make sure that you know in order for people to join in this fight, because we know gun violence is an epidemic. Their basic needs need to be met so that they are able to focus on something outside I have their homes. So Are they fair? Do they have shelter, you know, do they have clothing. So if your most basic needs are met, then you can focus on something outside of your home. Because we do know that gun violence is just a symptom of poverty and poverty is the culprit for many, and the underserved community. And whenever there’s an increase in poverty, there’s going to be an increase in violence,

Richard Dodds 20:34
it sounds like that. So much stuff that we need to, we need to fix a broken system or rebuild a new system that actually works for everybody that is inside of the system. Because I always hear people say we need to fix a broken, we got to fix the broken system. But they said it’s not broken, it was designed this way. So we need a system that works for every individual, so that we can have fair, fair rights where everybody does. It’s just so much inequality still and as modernize world that we live in is this beautiful, horrible, horrific, grand world that we live in is beautiful and ugly at the same time. And it’s just, some people just don’t see it. And some people don’t want to fix it. And I have to believe that there’s a lot of people that don’t want to fix it. Because if we really wanted to fix it, I think we’d be on the road to getting it fixed.

Mia Reid 21:31
I think that there’s a lot of ignorance involved. And sometimes when things are not happening to you, you don’t think they are real until they actually happen to you. And gun violence is one of them. When it comes to us, black people, we do know that there are systemic racism. So in order to get to the root problem, as you said, this system needs to be broken down. And I can’t say how when or who is going to help break that system down, I think we have to continue chipping away because we have been chipping away at it. So if we look in terms of breaking down a system, it’s going to become overwhelming for us. So we have to look at the things that we are able to do. And so join in an organization that is already doing the work, such as gun violence prevention organizations, you know, and being impactful, we have a march coming up, that is being sponsored by Pastor Barry Church of the Messiah. And this is I think, his 15th annual March. And he didn’t have it the last couple of years due to COVID. But this is something that people can join, because it becomes impactful when the entire community joins and you have 1000s of people that brings awareness, and it becomes impactful. And people want to know, you know, how can we help? What can we do, and we’re letting the world know, you know, we are not going to just lay down and allow all of this gun violence to occur. We demand action be taken to keep our family safe. So those are some of the things that you know, people can join us every year, we have national Gun Violence Awareness Day, this year, it falls on June the third. And we wear orange we wear orange all weekend. And so just wearing orange posting on social media recognizing orange because it represents the survivors of gun violence. And so just doing something that small sharing that and talking with your family or friends and letting them know that it’s national Gun Violence Awareness Day, and that car accidents are not the number one cause of death anymore in this country. It is gun violence. That is how bad it’s gotten.

Richard Dodds 24:26
That’s That’s crazy to think about the thing. And one of the things that pushed me to even create this, this platform, this podcast is that we have something that will have something happen and everybody will pay attention to it. And I heard some people in the DNI community talking about how when George flow was murdered, everybody was reaching out to them. Are you okay? What’s going on? And then as events started to happen, a lot of people start to get quiet. And then, you know, life happens. And life is crazy for everybody. We have our own things inside of our own worlds that we have to contend can’t contain with. And then we look up and then it’s like, oh, man, that was that long ago and such and such, they said that they were going to be doing this, this and that. And oh, what was that you know what happened with that momentum? What happened with us talking about it. And then it gets to another point to where, you know, something else happens a week later. And then by that time, everybody’s just know. And the thing that I worry is that was so much of this coming. And such quick succession, as that is starting to become like the ordinary normal thing. And you will hate to say that own murders become a normal. And it should never be something that we should not be surprised when it happened, we shouldn’t allow that. That’s what happened this week, it never should be that. So trying to make sure that like with my show, and with other shows, like my shows, and with the things that you’re doing, it’s trying to as much as it is another way that we all have to carry. And as black people especially we carry a lot of weights on a daily basis. But we got to keep it in the forefront of our minds, we can’t become numb to it. Because no change ever happened if we let up on the pressure. Because if we keep pressure on, then something I have to change, but we got to be consistent with it. We got to keep it in top of mind.

Mia Reid 26:27
Yes, we consistency is the key. And no, we don’t want to become desensitized to gun violence and to the murders that are happening in our community. And we definitely do not want to look at it as the norm at all. And I think like you said, life does happen. It happens to all of us. And I can honestly say that, prior to my son being taken by gun violence. I felt really bad when I saw those stories, you know, what mom, or what human being wouldn’t feel bad. And then I did, I went back on with my life because it didn’t affect me, personally, or so I thought. And so what I’ve learned is, you can do everything, right, or everything you think that is right. But we still live in a community. We do not live by our sales. We live in our homes, but we live in a community. And so we have to make sure that we are doing something in the community that is helping others in the community. Because what happens to others in the community is going to impact us. And I have learned that. And so if we want to live safe, if we want to live free from violence, then we have to get into the community and we have to do the work we have to work together. And when we all come together and work together in our communities, that’s how we keep our communities safe.

Richard Dodds 28:19
What kind of work does your organization do?

Mia Reid 28:24
Currently, I am the Michigan fellow for every town for Gun Safety Survivors Network. Every town for gun safety is the largest gun violence prevention organization in our country. And they have several arms. One of them is Moms Demand Action, and I’m the lead for the Detroit group. And what we do is we help families just like my nonprofit, we help survivors of gun violence. But our biggest thing is to bring awareness and we do it consistently. And so we are we have events we table we give out gun locks, we do prison presentations for our be SMART program. Regarding safe gun storage, we go to schools, we go to churches, we march we do everything we can to let people in a community know we see you you are not alone. The this violence that’s happening you know, people think they’re alone, and there’s there’s no hope there is nothing that they can do. And we want them to know that. There is something you can do and and we see you and and we are there for you and you are not hopeless.

Richard Dodds 29:46
I was reading a little bit about the wear orange Foundation. And it was like one of the biggest bullet points up there. It’s like why orange and the saying Orange is the color They’re hunters where somebody share that they don’t shoot each other. And it’s like, that’s not even something that like even equate it with me. So even just the thought of just wearing orange just to, Hey, pay attention. This is something that’s important. The Can you tell me a little bit more about the wear orange foundation?

Mia Reid 30:17
Yeah, it’s not a it’s not a foundation. It’s it’s Moms Demand Action, but we’re orange.org. It’s a website where you can learn about why we wear orange. And on jump on January 21 2013, Hadiya, Pendleton, she marched in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. One week later, her die was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago. So soon after her tragedy, her friends commemorated her life by wearing orange. And we adopted that because hunters do wear orange, and it’s to protect themselves and others. So now we were on lunch, to observe every June the 1000s of people that have been killed the survivors and to honor her dire but more than the more than 40,000 people who are killed with guns, and approximately 85,000 Who are shot and wounded every single year.

Richard Dodds 31:26
Those stats are staggering. That’s

Mia Reid 31:29
it’s a lot is a lot of gun violence. I mean, every year 110 people are killed due to gun violence every year. And the last time I was on your show, it was 100 people. And since then, it’s 110 people. So So we organized where orange events all over. We are global, where over 8 million. We are in every town, every city, we have a chapter in every town, every city, every state, and we organize wear orange events to remember lives lost to gun violence and to raise awareness about this public health crisis. So together, we can build a future free from gun violence. And when people participate in wear orange, that brings awareness, you can participate online, you can participate in person. And if you go to where orange.org, you can find events almost in any state.

Richard Dodds 32:39
That’s really, that’s really good information. And thanks for the clarification with a wouldn’t not be enough foundation. But it’s such a smart thing, or just such a catchy, smart color to wear because it draws attention. And then you can draw them into the message that you’re that you’re trying to promote safe, safe guns not getting rid of guns, yes, safe guns, just getting it out of the hands of the people that it shouldn’t be in. And even even what the young kids I think we talked about that stuff before how many young kids who have gotten to their parents guys, and had either shots themselves or other people and how much of a difference that will make if you can just get the guns out of the kids hands when they shouldn’t even be close to those guys. So

Mia Reid 33:27
yes, and today, I attended an event with Giffords, which is also a gum prevention organization with gun owners. And some of the speakers were talking about ways that we could reduce gun violence and one of the speakers talked about just focusing on, you know, reducing, you know, don’t get overwhelmed with trying to solve every problem, and just focus on what you can do to reduce gun violence in your community. And if every single person did that, we would make a huge impact. And I just thought that was very impactful because I think it’s exhausting, listening, looking and hearing all of the different occurrences of violence, it just becomes so exhausting, and especially for black people, such as Buffalo, you know, you you start to you start to become depressed sometimes because you wonder or or even, you know, having anxiety about you know, who’s next what community might be next. So, when you start to focus on what you can do to help and, and and find out your role, it just kind of empowers you and makes you feel better.

Richard Dodds 35:00
The thing that I’ve been finding recently is when you’re trying to communicate with someone, when you give them a lot of stats, a lot of times it’s harder for somebody to process that. But when you make it personal, like I had the series, the black mom’s Black Sons, you know,

Mia Reid 35:22
how awesome oh my gosh, that series was really awesome. Kudos,

Richard Dodds 35:27
thank you. But we’ve been able to talk to them. And, like, now, when they have a son, before they had a son, they will see a tragedy to black man, and it’d be like, ooh, that you will feel the pain you fill up and you feel the pain period. But then, when you have a boy, that will one day be a black man, it hits just a little bit different. Because that’s, that’s not just a baby, that could have been your baby. Yes. And when you think about it, when you personalize it, it shows you how important these these issues are. And we just need to continue to fight and make change. And there’s just so much change, but one step at a time. And I just want to help bring awareness to issues like these and other issues that we’re facing, and talk about organizations that are doing things to help out. Black people where really, it enables black people. It’s like it’s the world is all people. Because black people we are a part of it. We are a part of America we are Black history is history is American history. It’s not always pretty. American history isn’t always pretty. But as history it it is a part of history, and you can’t overlook it. And just because it makes you uncomfortable does not mean that that’s not something that you should face head on.

Mia Reid 36:51
Absolutely it is, it’s like you said it may not be pretty. And we know many parts of it was not pretty. But it’s still our history. And children need to learn it. And families need to embrace that truth. It’s our history. And we need to learn from it. If you don’t learn it, you you can’t grow, you can’t do better, you know, we can’t change it. So we definitely need to know our history. But I also I agree with you, and regards to making our stories more personal. You know, when people see hashtags, they know that somebody was murdered, or someone died. But it’s a hashtag. And so when you tell your story, and you share about what happened to you, and let somebody know, you know, like my son that was murdered, that that was my son, like, I carried him in my stomach for nine months. So not only that, I have him for 24 years, I had him for 24 years and nine months. And so people have to know, you know that he had a name Charles W ri, and it didn’t have a hashtag in front of it. And he had a born date. And he had a deaf day. And it was impactful. And so I think that, you know, oftentimes people don’t look at black moms and black dads, as having fillings like our child was murdered, we are hurting on the inside, we are changed forever. We are going to grieve forever, that does not go away. So when this happens over and over, you know, it almost seems as though we send our thoughts and prayers and then we’re these people are grieving, I’m grieving, it does not go away. You learn to cope, and hopefully those that need additional help they seek out that help. But it still changes us forever. Our lives are changed forever. We can’t get that back. And you don’t just grieve the death of your child or your loved one, you grieve the time that you will never have with them again. And so that is the consistent grief. And so people need to know that that was a real person that was taken away from someone and they need to understand you don’t get to just give your thoughts and prayers or or send a tweet or a post you need to do something about this people demand action be taken.

Richard Dodds 39:49
That was very well set. There is there anything else that you want to leave us with anywhere As a wisdom on what we can do what needs to start happening other than what we’ve already talked about?

Mia Reid 40:07
Yes, we have a lot going on in June to bring awareness to this gun violence epidemic. And June The fourth is the silence the violence March, which is going to be in Detroit. It is sponsored by Pastor Barry, and church of the Messiah. And it is going to be at 10am. And if you would like more information, you can join our Detroit group, Moms Demand Action, we have a link for you to sign up. We also have the Charles web community help center, March and rally coming up on June the 26th. And let’s not forget national Gun Violence Awareness Day, which is going to be this year, June the third and we will be celebrating wear orange all weekend from June the third through June the fifth. And if you want to know more about wear orange, just go to wear orange.org.

Richard Dodds 41:14
Well, thank you for your your words of wisdom. Thank you for sharing your story with us again. And thank you for all that you’re doing in the community because it’s much needed.

Mia Reid 41:27
Thank you so much for having me on. I enjoy all of your podcasts especially I really enjoy the series you had with the moms. I really enjoyed that. That really touched me. Like you said it made it more personal.

Richard Dodds 41:46
Yeah, that was a very that was a very special I’m gonna have to do some more stuff like that. That’s stuff that I’ve planned in the future but I really glad you enjoyed and thank you.

Mia Reid 41:56
Thank you.

Richard Dodds 41:58
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