The Guardian Interviews Violence Interrupter Nasir Bari, Paris Davis

  Many members of the staff at Youth ALIVE! are survivors of violence. Some have been shot. Others have lost cherished loved ones to gun violence in Oakland. Nasir Bari and Paris Davis are integral members of Youth ALIVE!’s Violence Intervention programs. They were both recently interviewed by The Guardian; We encourage you to read it.

“In the hood, you don’t discuss being scared,” Bari, now 49, said. “But as a youngster, you’re consumed with these thoughts at all times. You’re playing these scenarios in your head day to day. Mentally, you’re a wreck.”

This has tremendous effects on the mental health of Black adults, new research shows.

Direct and indirect exposures to gun violence, like hearing gunshots near the home or the slaying of friends or classmates, can lead to “lifetime suicidal ideation and behavior” among Black adults, a February study conducted by researchers from Rutgers University and published in Jama Network Open, a journal from the American Medical Association, shows.

Paris Davis is the intervention programs director ** ** with the Oakland non-profit Youth Alive, which offers programs for young gunshot wound survivors. Davis was shot in 2017 and has lost friends to suicide. Now, he’s helping Youth Alive to develop healing and therapeutic spaces that can educate people on how trauma affects their minds and bodies.

“Community violence has a different effect on all of us,” said Davis. “It takes a huge toll, and its indirect impact on communities is under-researched.”