COMMUNITY SHARES IN ‘CIRCLE’
Film spotlights survivors’ grief, hope
Eight-year old Devel Curtis Moore stood on the stage of Dorchester’s Strand Theatre last night and delivered a powerful message.
“As a young black boy, statistics show that my life could end before my 21st birthday,” the third-grader from Roxbury told the crowd, adding that statistics show a strong chance his case would remain unsolved. “This is mostly due to witnesses not coming forward and the ‘no snitching rule.’”
Grief and hope filled the historical theater as the community came together to support families grappling with the unsolved murders of their loved ones and to watch the premiere of a powerful Heraldproduced video called, “The Circle We Share.”
The families were joined by Boston police, clergy, lawmakers and other community members, who all came together because of Mary Franklin, the anti-crime activist whose husband, Melvin, was murdered on Oct. 15, 1996, in Dorchester. Melvin was 39, the father of her three children.
Her husband’s slaying remains unsolved. Franklin said she didn’t advocate for justice for him until 2013.
Since then, Franklin has been a relentless advocate, giving voice to those seeking justice for their slain family members and creating the Women Survivors of Homicide Movement.
The WSOH Movement came together as a group after a 2014 special report by the Herald revealed hundreds of unsolved murder cases in the city in the last 10 years.
The report found that more than two-thirds of the city’s murders were committed in Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester, and that black men were slain at 10 times the rate of white men. But police solved only 38 percent of the murders of black males compared to 79 percent for the slayings of white men.
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, who served as master of ceremonies, told the families last night, “While each person you remember has their own story, unifying forces bring us together. The search for solace. The human capacity to heal and the fortitude needed to shape your loved ones’ legacies. So as we bear witness to distinct tragedies, we also pay tribute to the power of community and your selflessness in supporting one another.”
Franklin said the video that premiered last night, produced by Herald video director Robert Greim, marks the beginning of change. Its message, Franklin said, calls for police to improve relationships with communities of color and for victims’ families to unite and advocate for loved ones.
“We must stop blaming communities and police officers,” said Franklin. “We are wasting precious time.”
She also made it clear that “no snitching” doesn’t apply to victims’ families.
Despite advances such as DNA and video technology used to solve cases, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said investigators still need “live people” to tell them what they saw, even if it’s little bits of information.
“People have to step up,” Conley said, “and they have to tell the police what they know and help us solve these cases.”
Devel’s mother, Latoya Johnson, told me one of her cousins was murdered and she fears for her young son.
“I feared for him before I even had him,” Johnson said, holding her hand over her heart.
“I hear young children all the time saying, especially males, that they don’t think that they’re going to live until they’re 21 or 25. It’s so sad. I’m glad to be a part of this.”