Joy Resmovits

Los Angeles

Senior Editor, Local Impact at The Trace

💜 Chaucer, opera, TV. Now: keeping it local with @TeamTrace. Raised by @seattletimes, @latimes, Spencer, @HuffPost. Always @edwriters @columbiaspec #ONAWLA.

Featured in: Favicon

thetrace.org Favicon

msn.com

huffpost.com Favicon

wsj.com

latimes.com Favicon

nydailynews.com Favicon

smh.com.au Favicon

chicagotribune.com Favicon

stuff.co.nz Favicon

seattletimes.com + 83 more

Articles

How Chicago Drill Artists Hacked the Conversation about Gun Violence

Jan 24, 2025 | thetrace.org | Justin Agrelo |Joy Resmovits

The Trace For more than a decade, city leaders helped to prevent Chicago drill rapper Chief Keef from performing in his hometown. In 2015, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel felt so strongly that Keef was an “unacceptable role model” whose music “promotes violence” that he wouldn’t even let him perform via hologram. Emanuel’s affront echoed sentiments from critics — then and now — who argue that drill rap glorifies gun violence and criminality.
Why Gun Violence Dropped in Philadelphia Last Year — And What Happens Next

Jan 17, 2025 | thetrace.org | Mensah M. Dean |Joy Resmovits |Afea Tucker

The Trace Just before 9:30 p.m. on December 30, Philadelphia City Councilmember Jim Harrity was home watching TV when he heard a series of rapid bangs. As a longtime resident of the city’s Kensington neighborhood, which is notorious for street-corner drug dealing and its accompanying violence, he suspected it was gunfire. Harrity looked out the window and saw a young man crumpled on the ground, so he jumped and yelled to his wife upstairs, telling her to get down and call the police.
A Violent Weekend in Philly Reminded Me of Each Shooting’s Toll

Jan 3, 2025 | thetrace.org | Joy Resmovits

The Trace Throughout 2024, I’ve felt good about the steady decline of shootings and firearm related fatalities in our city. But the violent weekend that began on Friday, December 13 — exactly 12 days before Christmas — left me feeling disheartened. At least 25 people were shot, four fatally, over the course of those three days, starting with a shooting near the Christmas Village at City Hall’s Dilworth Park. My colleague Mensah M.
‘Brothers in Grief’ Explores the Toll of Gun Violence on Philadelphia Youth

Dec 23, 2024 | thetrace.org | Joy Resmovits

The Trace One Saturday in November 2017, just days after Thanksgiving, Maxayn Gooden received one of the worst phone calls imaginable. The Harrisburg Police Department called to confirm that her son, JahSun Patton, had been shot to death. Patton, 18, was a Philadelphia high school senior with a promising future. He was looking forward to attending college and playing collegiate football. Patton was known for always smiling and his willingness to lend a helping hand.
Listen to ‘Roots and Realities,’ a Series on Gun Violence in Philadelphia

Dec 17, 2024 | thetrace.org | Joy Resmovits

The Trace Earlier this month, Philadelphia staff writer Mensah M. Dean published Roots and Realities, a three-part series about the causes and consequences of gun violence in Black America.
Philadelphia Will Install Bulletproof Glass to Protect Bus Drivers

Dec 10, 2024 | thetrace.org | Mensah M. Dean |Joy Resmovits

The Trace In October 2023, as gun violence in Philadelphia was starting to decline, retired military veteran Bernard N. Gribbin, 48, became the first city transit operator to die from gunfire while working. A 21-year-old female passenger shot him multiple times in the neck and torso after she stepped off his bus in the city’s Germantown neighborhood. The police quickly apprehended her, and she’s awaiting trial. Gribbin’s death was a stark reminder of the city’s enduring gun violence problem.
‘The Voices That Really Matter’: Listen to the Chicago Storytellers Speak on Surviving Violence

Dec 9, 2024 | thetrace.org | Joy Resmovits |Corniki Bornds |Juan Felipe Rendon |Juan F. Rendón

The Trace As survivors in The Trace’s Chicago Storytelling Workshop prepared to publish their essays this year, a new partner joined the gathering. Michelle Navarro, a producer for City Cast Chicago, recorded the group’s final meeting and interviewed participants.
Joy Resmovits Archives

Dec 9, 2024 | thetrace.org | Joy Resmovits

Skip to content Close Gun violence journalism that informs and empowers. Your gift makes The Trace’s reporting possible. Give today to sustain our work. Donate Now Investigating gun violence in America. Donate Joy Resmovits As senior editor for local impact, Joy is steering the launch of The Trace’s local reporting initiative, managing reporters covering Chicago and Philadelphia.
How Standard Practices Can Exacerbate Gun Violence Victims’ Grief

Dec 9, 2024 | thetrace.org | Sunny Sone |Joy Resmovits

The Trace Grieving a loved one is hard enough in itself — and when a loved one is taken by violence, America’s often harsh systems of justice can compound the loss. For Estela Díaz, a participant in this year’s Chicago Survivor Storytelling Project, that loss was literal. After her son, Zadkiel, was shot and killed, the police wouldn’t let her touch his body. “I’m so sorry,” she said an officer told her, “but he is a piece of evidence.” They kept Zadkiel for 10 days.
My Children Were Killed in Different Neighborhoods. Only One of Their Deaths Seemed to Matter.

Dec 6, 2024 | thetrace.org | Joy Resmovits

The Trace Before my children were killed, I wasn’t able to fall asleep until they came home. Now I can’t sleep at all. On January 17, 1992, my daughter Tyesa was the unintended victim of a gang-involved shooting in the Gold Coast neighborhood, just a few blocks from one of Oprah Winfrey’s houses. The murderer, a 14-year-old boy, was caught and sentenced to 50 years. Tyesa died instantly, but the story of her death lived on in the news for months.