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.
Markese Raps for Jalen
Markese Bellamy, who goes by the rap name Major League Polo, sings in his at-home studio in Rochester, N.Y., on Aug. 31, 2022. His brother, Jesse Everett, who goes by the producer name Lennon Empire, produces his music. The duo are brothers of Jalen Everett, who went by the rap name La Flare 2x. He was a popular rapper from the Maplewood neighborhood of Rochester and was one of the three suspects involved in the Genesee St. Boys and Girls Club shooting. He was indicted and charged, but he walked free after one trial was declared a mistrial, and the jury declared him not guilty during the second trial. He was eventually shot and killed on May 4, 2019. A verse from a recent song released by Markese is as follows: "3 in the morning, I’m up thinking about my brother off this pill / life would be different, and I know it / why he be the one got killed / pistol totting with my partner / know these streets be for real."
