On January 10th, please join us for the panel discussion, “Designing for Safety: Community, Policy, and the Legacy of Gun Violence in our Memorial Landscape” hosted in collaboration with Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, MASS Design Group, and the Institute on Policing, Incarceration & Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.
PANEL LOCATION: Civic Pavilion on City Hall Plaza (5 Congress St)
MEMORIAL TOUR: Join Maggie Stern and Jha D Amazi from MASS Design for a tour of the Gun Violence Memorial at 4:30 pm (Inside City Hall, plaza entrance) prior to the panel discussion, which begins at 5:30.
Drawing on the experiences and impact of the Gun Violence Memorial Project, which has been on display in Boston since the end of August, this conversation examines how we can redirect public attention to gun violence in ways that genuinely honor community mourning, avoid exploitation, and inspire meaningful change.
The evening will be co-hosted by Karin Goodfellow, Director of Transformative Art and Monuments in the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and Brandon Terry, Co-director, Institute on Policing, Incarceration & Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.
Light refreshments will be served.
Co-director, Institute on Policing, Incarceration & Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research
Brandon M. Terry is the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and the co-director of the Institute on Policing, Incarceration, and Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Born in Baltimore, Terry earned a PhD with distinction in Political Science and African American Studies from Yale University, an MSc in Political Theory Research at the University of Oxford, and an AB, magna cum laude, in Government and African and African American Studies from Harvard College.
Director of Transformative Art and Monuments
Karin Goodfellow is a dedicated advocate and visionary leader in public art and policy, deeply committed to fostering human-centered relationships. She believes in transformative artworks as opportunities for connection and revelation on the journey toward just and vibrant communities.
Currently, as Director of Transformative Art and Monuments in the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture, Karin leads the creation and implementation of policies and projects related to reimagining Boston’s public art landscape and sets the vision and direction of the public art team.
Principal, MASS Design Group, Director of Public Memory and Memorials Lab
Jha D Amazi believes that the narratives upheld in our public realm should be expanded to represent, honor, and celebrate the experiences, histories, and cultures of people who have been historically denied representation in our memorial landscape.
As a Principal at MASS Design Group, Jha D leads the Public Memory and Memorials Lab, engaging communities to design projects such as the Franklin Park Action Plan (Boston, MA), the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument Project (Tallahatchie County, MS and Chicago, IL), the Gun Violence Memorial Project (Chicago, IL, and Washington D.C.).
President and CEO of Louis D. Brown Institute
Chaplain Clementina Chéry is the founder, President and CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), a Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. Chéry founded the LDBPI in 1994 in Boston, Massachusetts after the murder of her 15-year-old son Louis. For more than 25 years, Chéry has used her experience as a survivor to serve families impacted by murder, advocate for survivors of violent crimes and develop best practices for homicide response.
Co-Founder My City at Peace and Associate Pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church
Rev. Brown, a Co-Founder of My City at Peace, is an Associate Pastor at Twelfth Baptist Church. He is Co-Chair of Mothers for Justice and Equality, Co-Chair of the Mayor's Interfaith Task Force and member of the Social Justice Task Force for the Boston Police Department. He's the recipient of the 1016 Spirit of the Hill Alumni Award at Andover Newton Theological School and the 2015 Community Hero Award, Community Resources for Justice (CRJ).
Director of Roca Boston
Carl Miranda has over 15 years of experience in nonprofit leadership and has served as the Director of Roca Boston since 2018. Roca is a nationally recognized organization dedicated to supporting young men and women at the center of urban violence. With a 36-year history and multiple locations across Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maryland, Roca works with the highest-risk young people—those who are system-involved, gang-involved, and/or likely to recidivate—filling a critical gap in the national landscape of Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiatives (CVIPI).
Manager for Community Safety Initiatives
Matthew Parker, born and raised in the historic South End/Lower Roxbury of Boston, Massachusetts. Matt has always been proactive in his community through youth organizing and community service projects. In recent years, Matt has found success in using poetry and photography as tools for effective community building and coping from normalized traumas people face. Currently, Matt works in the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety as the Manager for Community Safety Initiatives- working with city
departments, nonprofit anchor institutions, and resident leaders in empowerment areas that
are resilient to violence and trauma.
Matt holds an Undergrad credential in School Age Youth Development and Master’s in Community Development- Policy & Practice.