Gold: Keeping Them Alive
"Celebrating their life keeps them alive," says Persephone Modeste, a therapist based in Rochester, N.Y., where friends and family pay tribute to loved ones killed by gun violence using customs and rituals that signify death is not the end of life for the deceased. Loved ones are celebrated and kept close through objects and events that honor their legacy. "Sometimes, the pain bears you down so much that you have to think of something joyful to be able to move on because it can be debilitating," says Modeste.
Shayquanna and Jamen’s Cutout
Shayquanna Adams sits beside the cardboard cutout of Jamen Balkum, her late boyfriend and father to her son, Jamma, 8, at a family gathering held in honor of Jamen at Jamen’s aunt’s home in Rochester, N.Y., on Oct. 3, 2021. Jamen was shot and killed on Aug. 30, 2021. Cardboard cutouts, whose origins trace to New Orleans in the early 2000s, according to NPR, are a popular memorial to a deceased person, often seen in a bedroom, living room, or place where they died. "You go around town; you see the cardboard cutouts on corners, at somebody's house," says Michele Balkum, Jamen’s mother. "It’s just a remembrance of their loved one like they are still with them. They are still in that house; they are still in that same area. They are still hanging out right there. They are still around, so sometimes that gives people a little bit of relief."
