LET’s GEt to the root of the problem.
How Free Root Operation is Combatting Gun Violence
Eva Maria’s organization, Free Root Operation, works to make education and food accessible to their constituents. These resources connect to gun violence as they address primary human rights, extend bodily autonomy, and help people realize what’s available to them. Instead of thinking they are confined to one thing, one way of living—with adequate resources, people’s options expand.
Eva Maria’s home is South Shore, Chicago. Her neighborhood has been divested in for decades, like many neighborhoods on Chicago’s South and West sides. This meant that from a young age, she had to leave her neighborhood for quality leisure, food, education, and at times, safety. When looking around her, she saw a community racked by gun violence and death. And when she listened, she heard everyone from politicians to community members to friends saying that gun violence was the problem.
However, upon deep consideration, she saw this wasn’t the full truth.
The plague of gun violence was sparked by scarcity in her community. She found that people weren’t just picking up guns and participating in the gun violence infrastructure because they want to. They were doing so out of perceived necessity. See, Chicago may be one of the most diverse cities in the nation, but it’s also the most segregated. The highways cut off the highly invested North side from the deeply divested South and West sides—making it nearly impossible to have access to resources like jobs with a livable wage, grocery stores, well-performing schools, and leisure.
While gun violence is a problem—it is, at its core, a result of this mass divestment.
When you don’t have resources that will set you up for success, you will result to what you need to, to survive. That’s what many are doing when they participate in the gun violence infrastructure.
When looking at solutions to gun violence, it's crucial we be proactive instead of reactive. Eva Maria’s work seeks to prevent poverty in order to prevent poverty-induced gun violence. She often thinks about what a world looks like where no one feels the need to pick up a gun. In that world there are grocery stores within walking distance. Every school has the means to invest in its students. Every child has a chance. Every house has a roof. Every person has a safe job fit to provide for their entire family. Health, cultivation, nourishment, and safety are all within reach in a world free of gun violence.
Join her as she continues to seek new solutions to seed safer worlds for everyone, but especially the most vulnerable communities.