STRIKING A CHORD
Artists and activists perform to fight back against gun violence
EWING >> Several days ago, Regina Thompson-Jenkins celebrated an anniversary.
But it’s not the kind that brings joy.
Thompson-Jenkins told an audience at Trinity United Methodist Church in Ewing on Sunday that her only son, Tre Lane, was gunned down four years ago in Trenton to save the lives of two young ladies.
“Tre was in college, yet I’ll never see him walk across the stage,” Thompson-Jenkins said as she paused to fight back the tears. “I will never see my son get married so I will never know that feeling of a mother and son dance. I will never have grandchildren, but I will never know the reason why someone chose to shoot into a crowd of people that night and took the love of my life, my pride and joy. We have to make the gun laws stricter so another mother will not have to shed the tears I have to today.”
Thompson-Jenkins was one and many speakers and musicians who participated in the Concert to End Gun Violence, one of several hundred that coincided across the county on Sunday.
Some big names appeared at the free Ewing event, including Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman of Philadelphia hitmakers The Hooters. All bands and performers volunteered their time to appear at the concert for free.
“I can’t imagine anyone else not for this cause, so we’re doing our part,” Hyman said, noting the band had never played in a church. “It’s affected all of us for sure.”
Bazilian said the event was “really about gun violence.”
“Guns kills people, people kill people, sticks kill people, knives kill people, a lot of the guns kill a lot more people so it’s tragic,” the frontman said. “Let’s try to keep that down if we can. No more violence.”
In the six-song set, the duo played Hooters’ favorites “All You Zombies” and “And We Danced.” And as a treat to the packed church, the duo played “Time After Time,” a song Hyman wrote for Cyndi Lauper, and “If God Was One of Us,” a song written by Bazilian and made famous by Joan Osborne.
Numerous advocacy groups were on hand at the concert.
“Gun violence isn’t a religious issue, it’s not a mothers’ issue, it’s not a gay issue,” Trinity Pastor Brian Erickson said. “I have children who go to the movies, I have parishioners who work at malls, I have students who go to schools. Gun violence is an American problem. It’s a problem that we need to end in this generation.” According to statistics cited at the event, 91 people die every day in the U.S. from gun violence, which includes 10 people under the age of 18.
U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12) has tried to do her part in Congress to bring attention to the issue.
On Sunday, the Ewing resident recalled taking part in the House sit-in in June to attempt to prompt a vote on some gun control bills.
“We knew that we needed to capture the attention of our Congress leadership,” Watson Coleman said. “We knew that we had to get the word out.”
The state’s first female African American congresswoman said the House refuses to allow votes on the simplest measures, such as banning people on the terror watch list to obtain guns and, her proposal, to alert the authorities when an individual buys 1,000 rounds of ammunition within a short period of time.
“We don’t have enough control over who has access to guns, how you can get them and what you need to be able to go through in order to get them,” Watson Coleman said. “We want to do whatever it takes to keep our children, our elderly, our mothers, our fathers, our sisters, our brothers, every single person as safe as we can in this country.”
In a break during his powerful set, folk singer Jeffrey Gaines said a tough road will lie ahead because of the country’s infatuation with guns.
“It’s just part of our folklore,” Gaines said, referencing kids playing guns games. “It’s going to be really hard to erode that fixture, the fixation. It’s very tough. You’ll have to fight this. It’s absolutely not a fun game to play. Melt the guns.”