This is a multimedia project about the cycle of psychological trauma in gangs and its effect on a community. High-crime neighborhoods have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder rates as high as veterans returning home from combat according to mental health experts. I spent 7 months documenting the lives of the Landon family, whose son was killed in a shootout, and Jason Davis, the gang leader of the Bloods in Harlem (watch video below). Their journeys reveled trauma, despair and a blanket of darkness that continues to cripple them, their families and their community.
Ricocheting Bullets was awarded highest honors at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
downIntroduction: The Pain Behind The Door
Two police officers in navy blue uniforms were banging on the door. Her heart raced.Read More »
downChapter 2: Sickooo
J found what tools he could, quarters, wire hangers, razors and cigarettes to slash and burn his body like a canvas.Read More »
downChapter 4: Child Soldiers
Driven by grief, he’s turned to a group of friends he and Travis hung out with to find his friend's killer.Read More »
downChapter 5: Moral Injury
”My brother’s [killing] is part of the street code. Regardless of what you know, you don't snitch anybody out else you could be next.”Read More »
downChapter 6: Breaking the Silence
“People are walking around like zombies because they think that’s the way life should be,” he says.Read More »
downEpilogue
“I just want to look at my son’s killer in the eyes and ask, “What did my son ever do wrong to you?””Read More »