'We need people to know that gun violence needs to stop," A virtual exhibit shows painful experience of mothers losing children to gun violence

ByYukare Nakayama WLS logo
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
'Sisterhood' exhibit captures mothers' pain after losing child to gun violence
The Sisterhood virtual exhibit shows the painful experiences of dozens of mothers from the Chicagoland area who have lost a child to gun violence in hopes of curving that issue in

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The tragic loss of losing a child at the hands of gun violence has brought a dozen mothers to share their stories of that pain. It's all shown through a virtual exhibit called The Sisterhood.

"One of the goals of the exhibit is to instill a deep sense of empathy with the mothers and their families on what happens to them when their kids are killed or murdered," said Danny Cohen, founder of the non-profit UnSilence.

Cohen said he's been working on the project with the Sisterhood organization for over two years. The Sisterhood organization is made up of mother who are grieving a loss of a child due to gun violence.

"Its keeping my son's memory alive through other people you know, I'm going to keep his memory alive anyway but to see other people interested in my story and doing the exhibit, and you know photos and videos of all the pain, it helps," said Donna Hall who lost her son, Marshall Hall, to gun violence.

"We are losing kids at an alarming rate, and this was a way to get our stories out in a meaningful way," said Bertha Purnell, another mother who lost her son to gun violence and who is participating in the virtual exhibit.

Through the virtual exhibit, viewers can read about the children these mothers have lost, as well as their experiences of losing a child to gun violence.

"We're not looking for pity. We need people to know that gun violence needs to stop," said Purnell.

Purnell said she hopes humanizing their pain will make others think twice about taking a life.

Cohen said they are currently working on educational material for the exhibit so that it is taught in classrooms.