Father who lost son to gun violence: 'We need to do better'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A father opened up about the loss of his son to gun violence Wednesday, telling a crowd of city leaders -including the mayor - that the loss has him focused on moving forward and being a mentor to others.
The remarks from Kent Julye came at a news conference about the Greater Philadelphia MLK Day of Service. The annual observance will focus on gun violence prevention this year.
One of the main projects planned for this year's King Day of Service involves a partnership with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to assemble gun safety locks.
You can sign up to volunteer or submit a project at mlkdayofservice.org.
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Julye's son, Zachariah, was killed early July 2, 2022. An arrest has been made in the shooting, according to a police website.
Below are Julye's remarks from the event.
"Mr. Mayor, Todd, president, I am not happy to be standing here today, on what should be a celebration about the possibility of our future. My son, Zachariah Owen Julye, on July 2nd this past year, celebrating the birth of this country, of this nation, was shot and killed.
My wife and I received a phone call at 1:30 in the morning from one of his friend's mothers, who had been at this party with them. And her words were 'please tell me Zachariah is in his bed.'
He was not. And unfortunately, there were hundreds of others before us receiving that phone call, and there have been hundreds of others since.
Zachariah was 6'5", he was 19, he was a son, a grandson, a brother, a nephew, a friend. His eyes welcomed everyone. His smile brought you towards him. And he was open and supportive of all who met him. His eyes then closed forever.
If you think about Dr. Martin Luther King, everyone knows the "I Have a Dream" speech, but I question how many have read the Letter from Birmingham Jail. When he thought about our future, and what truly was going to matter to help all of us gather together in celebration, in support to lift each and every one of us, that letter speaks volumes.
How do we move forward? We can listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, not just that which is flowery, but that which tells us to take a hard look at ourselves, so that other boys and girls are not murdered, but in fact are held up and are educated and are given opportunities, so they don't feel the only way to be seen is with a weapon in their hand.
We parented our sons because Zachariah has a brother who is 18 months and was exactly... Parenting is important, mentoring is important, sponsoring is important, and remembering is important. Our story and his story.
Everyone gathered for the Day of Service throughout the nation should be remembering their collective stories, should be remembering their brothers and sisters and sons and grandsons who have been murdered. We need to do better.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew the arc of his story and he still went forward to better all of us.
Those of us who are victims, who are survivors, have to find a way to embrace going forward and doing better for all of us and everyone else. As I look at the young people that are here in this room, part of my job is to mentor you. All of us adults in this room, our job is to mentor and to sponsor, that's my opinion.
I'm one father who has one son here, and one son who is not here. But I stand for him. I stand for you, and I appreciate all of you who continue to stand and have stood for all of the young people that come after us. Thank you for allowing me to share this space and this time with all of you.
