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Grid Presents: The People Left Behind
May 6 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Join us at Public Trust for The People Left Behind, a conversation on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 from 7-8:30pm about the long-term effects of gun violence on local communities beyond the crime scene. The launch event for a new Grid magazine podcast, the program will be hosted by Afea Tucker and features panelists Vivek Ashok, Ellie Rushing, Julien Suaudeau, and others. Presented in partnership with Grid.
About the Program
Why does gun violence reporting in local and national media typically center on the crime scene and the judicial process? How can we break the never-ending loop of the news cycle, from one shooting to the next? How can we remove the stigma of victimhood and involve local actors (loved ones, neighbors, neighborhood associations) in the streamlining of gun violence coverage? Can news outlets shift from emergency reporting about shootings to long form journalism about their personal implications? What kind of storytelling and journalistic standards should we advocate to maximize the agency of survivors and co-victims? What needs to be done to mitigate the risks of exploitation and retraumatization? To what extent is sharing one’s story with the world part of a healing process?
About the Speakers
Dr. Vivek Ashok is an Associate of the Center for Violence Prevention at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and a fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at Penn Medicine. His research focuses on the language surrounding firearm related violence, and disentangling firearm violence from mental illness.
Ellie Rushing is the Justice and Injustice Reporter at the The Philadelphia Inquirer. She covers criminal justice and law enforcement in Philadelphia, including how crime and the court systems impact communities.
Julien Suaudeau is a writer and filmmaker. He hosts two Philadelphia-centric podcasts: Song of Philadelphia and The People Left Behind. He teaches French and Film at Bryn Mawr College, where he is the director of the Film Studies program.
Afea Tucker is The Trace’s Philadelphia Community Engagement Reporter. She oversees Up the Block, a resource and information hub for Philadelphians affected by gun violence. A veteran media professional and journalist, her work has been published in The Philadelphia Tribune, WHYY, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Terrez McCleary founded Moms Bonded By Grief. In November 2024, the organization opened the Moms Bonded By Grief Botanical Garden of Healing, a space built by mothers of homicide victims to honor Philadelphians lost to gun violence. The memorial garden sits at the corner of 51st Street and Woodland Avenue.
Michelle Kerr-Spry is a Trauma-Informed Specialist and Behavioral Health Generalist, as well as the Director of Programs and Development for Mothers In Charge (MIC). She joined MIC in 2006, shortly after the murders of her only brother, James, and then oldest son, Blain, and has worked there in various capacities for the last 19 years.
