"Murder capital, only key to survive is kill.

If the elements dont murder you, the riders will" Lil Wayne

July, 2005 Father John Terry and his wife sit in the living room of their modest home in the New Orleans neighbourhood of St. Claude watching the news. Night after night, news reports of gun violence and countless murders. This week, 10 murders occurred in New Orleans. One murder report caught the couples attention, the death of a young man in St. Claude. Terry was quick to quell any concerns his wife may of had by pointing out the murder is on the other side of St. Claude. Dont worry, its not our neighbourhood, declared Terry. Midnight the following evening, Terry and his wife awoke to the unmistakeable sound of gunfire. Pop...pop, pop, pop, pop, pop A 17-year-old boy was slain in what Terry refers to as our neighbourhood. Outside the front door of the Terrys home. Terry likened the screams emanating from the victims distraught girlfriend to that of an Irish keening, another-worldly wail. The police prevented me from approaching the boy as he lay there. They didnt want me to contaminate the crime scene. I couldnt even read him his last rights. 02/04/07 Tamara Gabriel 27 F Shot Today, Father Terry is a priest and rector for St. Annas Municipal Church in Trem. In the wake of the incident, Terry created a murder board that represents every victim of violence in metropolitan New Orleans. It lists the age, gender, name and means of death for every victim. It was originally conceived in collaboration with a deacon candidate who was training here. Not long after the incident in St. Claude, the candidate came to me to express how extremely disturbed she was by the continuing onslaught of murder in the city, says Terry. She said, What can we do? Its so overwhelming, we must do something.

The murder board project is in a neighbourhood, and city, that often devalues life. It is born out of a faith response that recognises human beings as human beings, says Terry. Several members of the church cultivate a list of murder victims for the week. The names are usually buried in the third, fourth and fifth sections of the newspaper, if they are even named at all. I then pull out my ladder, go to the board and write the names and details of each victim in permanent marker. 04/08/10 Sue Everett 16 F Shot The murder board brings permanence to families who have lost someone that never really had the chance to live life. The goal was to humanize, nothing more. But there were a lot of outcomes we didnt really anticipate, said Terry. Once a local newspaper ran a story on the board, I received around 15 phone calls from grieving mothers, thanking us for remembering their child because they thought they were forgotten. People tend to forget that these kids have families, Terry remorsefully explained. John Doe or Mary Jane were shot in a drug deal gone bad. All we hear is drug deal gone bad. The murder board takes that out of the equation. In many of these murders, it is a situation where people have found themselves in lifestyles, or life circumstances where there is no positive way out. Terry said that every citizen of New Orleans is responsible for the actions of one another. We may not be our brothers keeper, but we should hold each others lives as sacred. Rev. Charles Jenkins, former Bishop of Louisiana agreed that responsibility lies beyond those involved in a murder. If you are raised to believe your life is of little value, then it is not difficult to take a life of little value. New Orleanian Jeremy Smith grew up surrounded by the gun violence culture that has consumed much of the citys youth. Yeah people die every day, but you become immune to it. Its something we are accustomed to. In the news, its expected, like seeing the weather report, says Smith. Some do it because they feel like theyre at a point of no return. They turn to violence and crime as a way to progress through the struggle. You aint got to look any further than Lil Wayne and

his lyrics. Hes an idol for many of the youth of this city and hes talking about murdering for capital, for survival. Jeremy, like many others in New Orleans, is numb to the murders. Terry suggests the reason people are sensitized to all the violence is because society tends to think in terms of murder rate. Individuals become numbers. It becomes a systemic disorder that legislators, politicians and the police must address. They do this by rate. How many murders? What is the rate? What is the comparative rate with other cities? says Terry. I agree that there is some necessity in this, but we lose sight that these are human beings. Every person is someones baby. To me, the symbolism of it is no less poignant than the story of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose son died to violence. 02/23/12 Leon Brier 99 M Smothered In a New Orleans Police Department press release from Feb. 1, Police Chief Ronal Serpas said, When our overall crime numbers are down, we know were on the right path...were winning. Terry disagrees, In referring to citizens as numbers, the city is simply ignoring the real problem. Most of the people on [the murder board] are seen by some as socially and culturally disposable. Theyre statistics, they had it coming. For us, the implication is how did a child born into this world become that way?... It is a lot deeper and messier than a simple crime rate will show. Regardless of how the authorities view the situation, Father Terry continues to put names on the board at St. Annas. Facilitating the murder board is as much a part of being a priest at St. Annas as giving the Sunday service. In an extension of the philosophy behind the murder board, members of several New Orleans churches, including St Annas, conduct their own initiative each Monday at noon. Roses are distributed to several different institutions across the city to represent each victim on St. Annas murder board. We take them to the police chief, the mayors office, city council and the [defense attorney], says Terry. We also deliver a note with the rose that says we are praying for you, we pray for the victims, we pray for the perpetrators. We know this is difficult but our prayers are with you.

03/12/13 Sadiki Navarre 24 M Shot Terry said some recipients are very gracious, while others are sceptical and think the church is trying to undermine their position in office. As long as the problem exists, Father Terry and St. Annas church will continue to remember the lost and forgotten. Some get it, some dont. Its ok. We still go out every Monday at noon and bring roses. On Wednesday night, we remember the dead. On Sunday morning, we remember the dead. This week, weve killed six people.