“GUN VIOLENCE DESTROYS FAMILIES” 

Entertainers for Education Alliance RELEASES PSA featuring the parents of the late Pop Smoke

New York, New York – In response to recent shootings in NYC the Entertainers For Education Alliance has teamed up with the parents of slain rapper Bashar Barakah “Pop Smoke” Jackson The PSA features Audrey and Greg Jackson, mother, and father of rapper Pop Smoke to release a powerful PSA entitled “Gun Violence Destroys Families” to discourage youth from shooting each other.  

Since the beginning of 2020, there have been over 1,000 shootings and almost 300 murders, in New York City.  The idea for the PSA came from the Executive Director and co-founder of The Entertainers 4 Education Alliance - I WILL GRADUATE Tonya Lewis Taylor who was distraught after seeing another news story about a teen being shot.  “We needed to get our youth’s attention fast and Pop Smoke polarizing music, life, and his untimely death helped us.   We reached out to his parents who wanted to honor their son’s legacy by participating in the video.  We want the youth to weigh the cost of their actions.  You can't go back after that trigger is pulled.  One moment of anger is a lifetime of pain for the loved ones left behind”.

The goal of the Gun Violence Destroys Families PSA is to bring media attention and awareness to the most recent shootings, killings, and violence that has been increasing rapidly in New York City since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The “Gun Violence Destroys Families” PSA has spawned an 8-week program geared toward educating the youth about anti-gun violence called the “Stop The Violence” program. Middle & High school participants will create and implement different solutions to combat gun violence in their communities.

Program Goal: To provide new solutions to combat gun violence in New York City we want to make sure