"Mother, mother There's too many of you crying Brother, brother, brother There's far too many of you dying You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin’ here today" April 15, 2015 - Clouds roll over a blue sky Wednesday evening as light slowly fades. A street glistens after a Spring rain late in the day. With her lips pursed, a mother stands alone wearing a black cotton t-shirt with a picture depicting her late son. She is also holding a golden foil balloon near the site in the Hyde Park neighborhood where her son’s life was cut short. She plans to release the star shaped object in memory of her loved one. One year ago, Bruce Whitmore, Jr. asked a group of guys hanging out on the 2100 block of Clayton Ave. to turn their music down. "He told them to don't disrespect the neighbor," Whitmore's mother Sharon Garner states. The men wouldn't listen. An altercation would soon follow, and then a fight. Vintonni "Bam" Chase, 21, goes to retrieve a firearm and shoots Whitmore twice, forever silencing him. "One bullet just ricocheted, tore his insides up," Garner adds. “He bled out." Whitmore was 29. "Father, father We don't need to escalate You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin’ here today” Garner comments that all violence needs to stop. "It's too much easy access to guns now. Everybody has a gun," she remarks. "(There's) too much violence going on and you pretty much have to keep your kids in the house now. People that are just shooting and whatever, they're the ones not getting hit." As children run and play near her, Garner mentions parents should teach their children about the importance of nonviolence. "Guns is not the answer," Garner voices. “He (Bruce) was a good father. He has 6 kids, and now they're without a father. His sisters and brothers are without a brother, a mother without a son. It's just hard." (Lyrics are from “What’s Going On,” by Marvin Gaye.) #Memphis #HydePark #photojournalism #nonviolence
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