Chester/Delco T-shirt memorial displayed on Swarthmore Campus
SWARTHMORE >> Byron “By” Nicholson Jr. died at the age of 18. He was known for his beautiful smile and kindness. A former member of Chester Biddy League and Chester P.O.W., he enjoyed playing basketball and video games with his brothers.
Juan A. Queen Jr., known as Baba, died at the age of 20. Juan was a 2013 graduate of Chester High School. He played football and worked at the Food Lion Market in Wilmington, Del.
Brian E. West-Banister was a 1996 graduate of Chester High. He owned his own business called B. Super Cleanout Service, LLC. He left behind his daughter, Kyasia.
All three lives were snuffed out by gun violence in Delaware County. Today you can see their names among the 153 others lined up along Swarthmore College’s entrance on Route 320 by the train station.
Heeding God’s Call is a faith-based, grass roots, non-profit organization dedicated to mobilizing congregations to oppose gun violence. The memorial follows the lead of the Philadelphia Chapter and has established its own Chester/Delaware County chapter. The memorial to the Lost consist of a Tshirt for 153 lives lost to gun violence in Delaware County from 2011-2015.
Dr. Joyce Tompkins, director of religious and spiritual life, spearheaded the T-Shirt Memorial to the Lost on Swarthmore’s campus when she was approached by a friend from Heeding God’s Call asking if she wanted to exhibit the memorial.
“I approached Greg Brown, vice president for finance and administration. We brought the idea to the president of the college, Dr. Valerie Smith, and she was very enthusiastic about it. Coincidentally a new student group started up called the Swarthmore Students for Gun Sense Policy by Jacob Demree, a student at Swarthmore College. This group was here on Sunday and helped us install it,” said Tompkins.
“The reason I wanted to have it on campus is because I feel it is a positive way to raise visibility about a really urgent issue. It raises the issue in a non -partisan way which helps to engage people where ever they are on the political spectrum. It’s not advocating a certain policy … This breaks a very complex issue down to a very personal level, age death name. You see a child killed senselessly,” said Tompkins.
“Jacob organized a vigil this summer before classes started in August. He was so devastated by all the violence in the summer. He is a very passionate and compassionate young man,” said Tompkins.
The vigil was the first event for his group. Demree, along with two students from the group, protested with U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., in Washington, D.C., with the help of Delaware County United for Sensible Gun Policy. The group is producing a brief video around campus to see where members of the Swarthmore community draw the line between allowing guns and preventing guns on the streets, and to plan how the group can make a difference.
Demree has been touched by lives that have been impacted by gun violence.
“I started Swarthmore Students for Gun Sense Policy in the middle of the summer which, as I’m sure you’re aware, had its own number of violence acts. Faced by the sheer number of gun deaths, as well as the terrifying impact of gun violence in Chester, where I worked over much of the summer with kids, I found that I needed some way to engage in the issue, which led me to reach out to other students and start working on the group,” said Demree.
“I think that the Memorial to the Lost is very impactful. Along with a sizable number of other volunteers, I worked to hammer rebar into the ground, which then held the frame and shirts. It is sad to think that a memorial to 153 lives is in itself very limited. There is no way to rationalize these deaths or the many more before or after the five-year time span; I think that is the power of this installation. By being forced to confront the names and ages of each person, you realize how human 153 people were before being killed,” said Demree.
For Tompkins, seeing the effect of gun violence on the Delaware County community is all too real.
“Here we are in a leafy oasis and don’t even know how many die from gun violence in Delaware County. On a personal level, I don’t live in Chester but I have friends and colleagues in the neighborhoods. Colleagues have lost parishioners to gun violence. It’s deeply painful to me. It’s more than numbers or statistics, its lives lost. Families changed forever. Neighborhoods traumatized and it’s so unnecessary. It’s so difficult for me looking at those shirts,” laments Tompkins.
“It’s powerful to make people think about this issue. I am hoping people will be inspired to think about it and get involved and to lobby for polices changes,” said Tompkins.
The exhibit will be on display through Oct 1. It will go to Beth Israel and Delco Unitarian Universalist after it leaves Swarthmore’s campus. To find out more go to info@ heedinggodscall.org.