Guns N’ Mothers (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQkDexOeFAk) is a spoken word/rap piece written from an anguished mother’s perspective as a plea for action to end gun violence in America! There are over 30,000 deaths a year due to gun violence, 88 deaths a day, including 8 deaths a day of children under the age of 20.
Through syncopated verse in a genre called “doc-rap,” Guns N’ Mothers reveals utter angst and despair, with a repeating dramatic verse “Trigger Boom, Trigger Boom, Trigger Boom.” In a mother’s heart and soul, her dream for her son is never to raise him to resort to the use of gun violence. Anger and rage in boys transcend race, economics and age. Historically, boys, and more often than not, white boys, are the perpetrators of mass shootings. From an early age on, according to William Pollack, author of Real Boys, boys do not learn how to release anger and our society shames boys into holding on to anger, often resulting in uncontrollable rage and violence. Easy access to guns, relaxed background check systems and ineffective legislation create tragic outcomes, one violent murder at a time.
Four Broadway actor “moms” from different ethnic backgrounds, perform in Guns N’ Mothers:
- Olga Merediz – Hispanic
- Erin Leigh Peck – White
- Natalie Carter – African American
- Aimee Ng – Asian
The writer/producer/director of this “docu-rap” is Jennifer Edson, a creative director, start-up veteran and technologist lives in NYC and is committed to connecting for-profit and nonprofit organizations for the greater good. She is deeply driven by global issues like poverty, hunger, homelessness and gun violence. Ms. Edson was compelled to compose Guns N’ Mothers after the unprecedented on-air shooting in Virginia in August 2015 when it was revealed in the shooter’s manifesto that he was a “powder keg waiting to go boom” and that it was the “heroism” of the Charleston shootings that motivated the shooter to go on a shooting rampage. Ms. Edson hopes that “maybe if heard through the voice, lens and sensibility of mothers, awareness around gun violence can be raised.” As a mom (and a daughter) she thought “everyone listens to mom, moms have a special bond with each other and these moms in Guns N’ Mothers have a strong message. Watch it to the end, it’s just so moving.” This 5 minute “docu-rap” captures the depth of a mother’s call to stop the madness around gun violence with an additional plea: help our boys by creating a system that allows them to process anger and shame, set up a structure for early invention and “trigger warning attention” so we can stop gun violence before another “trigger boom.”
Ms. Edson says that “no mother ever imagines or wants to learn that her child has just shot someone…or was on the other end of the trigger. Both sides of the trigger is tragic as young innocent lives are prematurely and unnecessarily lost. it has come to a point that these senseless acts of violence are just unacceptable! We must keep pushing and raising our voices so our legislators put politics aside and really do something to prevent these daily tragedies.”
She notes that “with each shooting, a piece of us all dies.” Guns ’N Mothers is a rap for action and supports the September 25th Concerts Across America to End Gun Violence whose purpose is to continue to raise awareness, educate and open dialogue around gun violence issues.
For more information contact: Jennifer Edson at [email protected]