‘Teach your son not to kill my son’
Yard signs are dotting Cincinnati’s community with hopes of reducing gun violence
It’s been two months since Jackie Randolph’s son, Javeir, died in front of her.
Her 16-year-old child was shot in October on Jonathan Avenue in Evanston while walking to a store.
She’s cried a lot since that day, but the overwhelming emotion she has is anger.
She’s angry that a life was taken from her and she’s angry that so many other Black moms lost their sons to gun violence this year alone.
“It’s devastating. It’s something as a mom you will never, ever get over,” Randolph said.
Inside her home, there are many pictures of Javeir. She wants his memory to live on and people to remember him as a bright, funny kid who had a beautiful smile.
At his funeral, his teachers from Western Hills University High School described him as a fun-loving, silly kid.
“That’s all he was. My son was just a kid. He was so young. He was just a kid,” Randolph said looking at one of his pictures.
Outside of her home sits a yellow yard sign that reads, “Teach your son not to kill my son. I already taught mine not to kill yours.”
Her heart skipped a beat when she first saw the message on the sign. She immediately wanted one in her yard because the bold words weren’t something that could easily be ignored.
“I want people to see it, really see it. So many Black kids, they were just kids. They have died,” Randolph said. “It has to stop.”
A sign of the times in Cincinnati
She asked the man making the yard signs, local activist Stefan Pryor, for one.
As Pryor drove to deliver the yard sign to Randolph, he called her. She asked him to pray with her for her son as they spoke on the phone.
“Wow, it touched me. When you lose a loved one ... I mean … you could feel her pain,” Pryor said.
He said the immense pain the community has felt after what seemed like a year of never-ending tragedies motivated him to create the signs.
“So many kids are dying. It needs to stop, and it starts by teaching your son that you aren’t born to die. There is more to your life. And you aren’t born and go out and kill somebody else,” Pryor said.
So far, he has given out 60 yard signs to be placed around town. He calls it a campaign against gun violence.
He is in the process of making additional signs, which will have a phone number on the back that people can call and ask for a prayer or be connected to resources.
For now, he will be the only one answering that number and helping connect the callers to help. He hopes to eventually get volunteers to help with the effort.
Pryor said it is worth devoting so much of his time and resources into this project as long it makes a difference in someone’s life.
“I just have to try and go out in the streets and do something. I want this to change,” he said.
So far, many people have been receptive to his efforts, Pryor said. People honk in encouragement as he places signs around town or they ask to get one for their yard.
Randolph said she wants to help distribute the yard signs around the community, along with pictures of her son.
‘So many kids have died, and no one cares’
“I want the city to see him. Whoever did this, they’re gonna have to see him everywhere,” Randolph said. “I want justice for my son. That’s exactly what I want. And that’s all I want.”
She said it is hard not to feel hopeless sometimes. She’s worried she won’t get justice for her Javeir. And she’s worried that more Black children will die as the gun violence continues. It’s just not right, she said.
Randolph said stopping gun violence needs to begin with creating stronger family ties and community relations.
But that’s only part of the problem, she said, adding that the city needs to invest in neighborhoods such as Evanston that she believes have been neglected for far too long.
“You only see this happening in certain neighborhoods. When my son was killed there were so many other shootings here that week. Why is this happening? So many kids have died, and no one cares. It’s like no one flinches when it happens,” Randolph said.
“These kids didn’t ask to be brought up in these neighborhoods. They didn’t choose to be born like this. They didn’t choose this. It’s not right.”
‘I’m not seeing results’
She said it’s frustrating because every year she hears about new programs to stop gun violence, but nothing has been effective.
It’s like a roller coaster, Randolph said, describing how the gun violence seems to slow down one year until it gets worse the next.
“Why can’t we stick to anything? I’m not seeing results. I see change for other communities in Cincinnati but not ours,” she said.
Randolph believes all that she and other parents worried for their children’s safety have is one another. That’s why she encourages efforts like Pryor’s to do what they can to save their kids.