Afea Tucker

2 weeks ago | thetrace.org | Afea Tucker

The Trace On Easter Sunday in 2009, Terrez McCleary’s 21-year-old daughter, Tamara Johnson, was shot and killed over a dispute about a car. Johnson was a nursing student at the Community College of Philadelphia. She had dreams of being a neonatal nurse, but her life was cut short just one month after she turned 21. In the days and months that followed, McCleary felt her daughter’s story had been forgotten, just another statistic in a city known for its gun violence crisis.

1 month ago | thephiladelphiacitizen.org | Afea Tucker

Legend has it that when William Penn gave Philadelphia its famous nickname, he envisioned “The City of Brotherly Love” as a place where people would live together in peace. West Philly native Ma’isah Young believes that it would take a Philadelphia without gun violence to truly earn that moniker. A recent spike in juvenile shooters has some Philadelphians feeling somber. They, like Young, say that gun violence is overshadowing all of the great things about their city.

1 month ago | thetrace.org | Afea Tucker

The Trace Legend has it that when William Penn gave Philadelphia its famous nickname, he envisioned “The City of Brotherly Love” as a place where people would live together in peace. West Philly native Ma’isah Young believes that it would take a Philadelphia without gun violence to truly earn that moniker. A recent spike in juvenile shooters has some Philadelphians feeling somber. They, like Young, say that gun violence is overshadowing all of the great things about their city.

2 months ago | thetrace.org | Afea Tucker |Mensah M. Dean

The Trace Zarinah Lomax’s friend, 23-year-old Penn State student Dominique Oglesby, was shot and killed in West Philadelphia weeks before she was set to graduate nearly seven years ago. The killing received plenty of media coverage, but Lomax felt it never truly reflected what was lost. That feeling inspired her to create a platform that uses fashion, music, and art to celebrate Ogleby’s life and further humanize victims of gun violence.

Mar 14, 2025 | thetrace.org | Mensah M. Dean |Afea Tucker

The Trace Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s new budget proposal fully funds the city’s violence prevention programs, which officials say were instrumental in reducing homicides and shootings by more than 35 percent last year. During a March 13 budget address, Parker reiterated that public safety is her top priority.