Youth forum gives political opponents platform to focus on gun violence

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook Staff Writer

Political opponents Nick Maddox and Rudy Ferguson grew up in states more than 600 miles apart, yet their upbringing seemed so similar.

A virtual audience of more than 100 listened as Maddox, an incumbent County Commissioner, and Ferguson, a pastor and community advocate, told about witnessing the devastation of gun violence.

The two men used illustrations of how gun violence touched their lives, pleading with young people to help stem the rise in gun violence in Tallahassee. They told their stories during a forum presented last Wednesday by the Young Adult Ministry of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.

The event was billed as “Come let us reason, stop the violence.”

 Arlette Bridges, a mental health counselor, also spoke during the event that was moderated by Rev. Michael Fegins, Associate Minister for Children, Youth and Young Adults.

“This is a call and a commission for us to work together to see how we can overcome gun violence together,” Fegins said to open the evening.

Ferguson lived in Liberty City in South Florida before moving to Tallahassee, while Maddox came to Tallahassee from Kannapolis, N.C. Both lost close friends to gun violence.

The forum was one of the recent attempts to find answers to the illegal use of guns by young people. Tallahassee Police Department reported that most of the gun crimes in the city are committed by young people between 15 to 21 years old.

“Our young people have no rights to have guns,” said Ferguson, pastor at New Birth Tabernacle of Praise who is challenging Maddox for an at-large seat. “That’s something that will get you in prison or worse. As you see, that has happened in the last few years.”

Ferguson, who has led weeks-long events advocating against gun violence, shared two stories about his interaction with young people who are incarcerated for their use of guns in criminal activity. In one case, he told of a 17-year-old who was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison, explaining that the teenager is finding incarceration to be “a horrific experience,” being in prison with hardened criminals.

Gun violence has become “an epidemic” in Black communities, Ferguson said.

Maddox saw plenty of that in his hometown, where he also had a support base that encouraged him to become great. One of them was Brian Chambers, a friend that Maddox lost to gun violence.

Others in his neighborhood, like Sherwood Ray, were constantly reminding him how valuable life is, Maddox said. He recalled one of his poignant conversations with Ray who said to him, “Nick, one of the most precious things in this life is life. When you take a life, it never comes back.”

Maddox went on to make an in-your-face-like statement to the young audience.

“Right now is a tipping point,” he said. “It’s a tipping point that you can decide that you want to be closer to God, closer to religion, closer to the code of life, closer to being able to appreciate another’s life or you can drift farther and farther away and away from the way of the spirit. … a life is so important.”

A rash of school shootings across the country has kept the gun issue in the headlines. In Tallahassee, there have been almost 80 gun-related incidents, with more than 10 resulting in death.

Firearm suicides have also been on the rise, a point that Bridges addressed. She encouraged listeners who might know anyone coping with mental illness to have them seek help. 

However, she pointed out that shaming and stigmas could make it difficult to seek help.

“Mental illness and mental health are treatable conditions,” she said.

“Take this message back,” said Ferguson, “because it is so important that you speak to your peers (so) your voices be heard…”