Family and friends of victims of gun violence in Philadelphia gathered for Peace In Philly, an art show displaying the commissioned portraits of 30 victims this week at the Taj Mahal in North Philadelphia. “I know of one mother who lost two sons, one dad lost a son, and another mother lost three sons –and they are still here,” said Zarinah Lomax, talk show host and producer of the Zarinah Lomax Show. For the past eight years, she has hosted the program through PhillyCAM, on Monday nights at 7 p.m. on Philadelphia Community Access Media. The show gives victims of violence and their loved ones a chance to tell their stories.
Lomax was the organizer of a memorial art show at the Taj Mahal on West Hunting Park Ave. on Wednesday evening. Philadelphia City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, who heads the group’s Gun Violence Prevention Committee, partnered with Lomax, to make the event happen.
The art show host said that she can personally relate to losing a loved one to violence. In March of 2018, she lost her best friend Dominique Ogelsby, who was a week or so away from walking down the aisle as a Penn State graduate when she was gunned down outside of the fast food place on 52nd Street.
Ogelsby was the daughter of WDAS staffer Frankie Darcell who is also a local singer, dancer and was the director of the 2018 hit play, “God’s Trombones.”
“I have been through something,” said Lomax, adding that the arts helped her through the grieving process. “We need to look at ideas that are heartfelt, but not as conventional, and let those ideas come forward. When people come in and see the impact of the art –they are very moved by it. I’ve seen people start their lives again, go through grief counseling, and even start their own organizations,” after going through art therapy.
“People connect in different ways,” Lomax added. “Some people will hear a song and relate to the message, some will work out their feelings by painting – some express themselves through dance.”
Lomax was inspired to start her own non-profit, Strength in Numbers Global, following her friend’s death. The group connects gun-violence victims and their families to grief counseling, financial support and other services. The non-profit founder paid for each portrait of each victim, personally, out-of-pocket, minus a small collaborative grant. The portraits were painted mostly by local artists and just viewing them left some of the victims’ relatives in tears, she said.
Johnson was the key speaker at the show and it was not the first time the two have partnered in some way. Johnson’s office presented Lomax with an award earlier this year for her work with gun violence victims and he sponsored an art exhibit, “We Are Here — Stories of Expression and Healing,” inside his office at City Hall for three months. Johnson’s office also provided many of the names of the victims, whose portraits were painted for the show this week.
Johnson’s family has also been touched by gun-violence. The councilman founded Peace Not Guns in 1988, following the murder of his cousin. In a statement from his office, through the organization he strives “to prevent violence through education and the creation of programs that would give youth an alternative to the streets.”
In addition to this expo, Lomax has sponsored art shows honoring the stories of more than 300 victims and survivors through traveling exhibits to Chicago, New York and Maryland and plans to add Atlanta to the list next year. “Anywhere a city is plagued by violence,” she said.
From The Philadelphia Tribune
Photo: Jason Leung
