ALBANY – The Dougherty County Commission proclaimed the first Friday of June as National Gun Violence Awareness Day in Dougherty County during Monday’s commission meeting.

“To honor and remember all the victims and survivors,” Chairman Lorenzo Heard read from the proclamation, “we as a country must do more to end this public health crisis.”

Local organizations are calling on community members to participate in a week of solidarity against gun violence locally and across the nation. The week was created by the Wear Orange Campaign, a national movement to honor victims of gun violence and spotlight gun safety. Local sponsors include Team NIGEL, a nonprofit to raise awareness about gun violence, and SOWEGA Rising, a nonprofit to mobilize and empower marginalized southwest Georgia communities.

The Albany community is encouraged to wear orange Tuesday and participate in city and county meetings for the official proclamation of the week. On Wednesday, youths are encouraged to wear orange to their summer camps and programs. Friday is the Albany Strong Against Gun Violence Day, during which employees wear orange to work and post photos to social media. Businesses are encouraged to decorate or light up their stores with orange.

Saturday at 6 p.m., the community is invited to Riverfront Park for a Wear Orange Rally, candlelight vigil and movie in the park.

Sherrell Byrd, executive director of SOWEGA Rising, said attendees will hear from community speakers on how gun violence has impacted their families. The names of victims of gun violence will be read.

“It’s served to be a time of healing for people, for us to come together as a community … and to have this conversation and give people an opportunity to know where their power lies,” she said.

Gun violence is a preventable public health issue that impacts communities across the nation. In 2021, 48,830 Americans died from firearms, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. This is an average of one death every 11 minutes. An average of more than 200 Americans visits the emergency department for nonfatal firearms injuries, according to the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Byrd said the campaign began in Albany after the murder of 9-year-old Nigel Brown in 2021. The youngster was shot while sleeping during a drive-by shooting.

“His mother had already started raising awareness about his death, and when we learned about this recognition, we thought it would be a great way to galvanize the community around this issue because we have a very high prevalence of gun violence in our city,” Byrd said.

The most recent shooting homicide in Albany was on Memorial Day when 40-year-old Charles Shavers Jr. was found dead with a gunshot wound to the chest. A 17-year-old suspect was charged with murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm, according to a press release from the Albany Police Department.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions reports that community gun violence inflicts an enormous burden on the country, especially in under-resourced black and Hispanic/Latino communities. It further perpetuates cycles of poverty, structural disadvantage and health inequity that already exist within these communities.

Heard called for serious round table discussions with community, faith, political and business leaders, as well as families, to address what solutions may look like.

“How do you do that which is impactful is the real discussion we have to have,” he said.

Heard said conversations also should involve offenders to look at causes and solutions. County Commissioner Anthony Jones said young people need to be a part of the conversation.

Commissioner Gloria Gaines said solutions to gun violence fall more at the state and national level.

“I don’t mean to diminish what is possible at the local level,” she said. “The power doesn’t always rest to do something substantial at the local level.”