Hi John,

My name is Brenda and I want to tell you about my dad, Robert Godwin Sr.

On April 16, 2017, Easter Sunday, my father was shot and killed while he was walking to my house for dinner, in a heinous, random attack that was broadcast on the internet. 

I’m the youngest of six siblings and Sunday dinner was always important to my family, even if there wasn’t a holiday. It was a time we set aside to cook delicious meals and be with our family, a tradition I still continue with my own daughter today.

That gunman didn’t just kill a person that day, he destroyed a whole family. 

Losing the strongest man I knew to gun violence left a gaping hole in my life, in my whole family, that remains to this day. Today marks 7 years since my dad was senselessly gunned down and the pain still feels as hot and gaping as it did that day. What’s worse is that I know that my family is not alone in this pain, far too many have experienced the unimaginable reality of losing a loved one to gun violence and it’s why I work to stop the next tragedy.

For a long time I felt guilty, that I should’ve been able to do something to stop what happened, wondering how I could’ve changed it. I felt in limbo, like my feet couldn’t touch the ground, but I finally felt solid ground when I came to gun violence prevention work at Brady. I learned from my dad to ask what I want my legacy to be in this world and now I’ve dedicated my life to ending this uniquely American epidemic. 

I know that activists like you want the same thing, John – a country free from gun violence, where families are not ripped apart by senseless violence. That’s why I’m asking you to join me in remembering my father today and honoring his life with action to stop the next tragedy: Will you join me in calling on Congress to take life-saving action to end gun violence?

My dad was an incredible man who was loved by his community and everyone who met him. Really, the sweetest person you would ever meet. After he retired, all my dad wanted to do was fish, he was known as the “four rods man” because he’d cast four rods and catch fish on all of them – a special skill most couldn’t achieve. He was handy and a tinkerer, collecting fans and vacuum cleaners to fix up and give to people in the community.

I am the youngest, but the first to graduate from college. I will never forget the look on my dad’s face when I walked across the stage to receive my Bachelors Degree, his smile lit up the room. He always told me how proud he was of me, he loved me, and if anyone needed him, he was always there – he was always there for everyone who he loved. 

I do all I can to cope with this reality, while pain grips me. I started working at Brady to stop all the people who suffer most from gun violence – like Black and brown Americans – from suffering this senseless tragedy the aftermath of which I deal with day after day. Today is an incredibly hard day for me and my family, although no day is truly easy without my dad. Will you join me in honoring his memory with action and demanding that Congress finally address our nation’s gun violence epidemic with proven solutions?

I work for Brady, because I know there are more people who want change like me, more people who are willing to fight for a better country than those that would remain complacent. I know Brady can stop the next senseless tragedy, that daughters will not have to suffer like I have. Thank you for joining me in honoring my dad today and for your dedication to this fight every day.

Brenda Haymon

Gun Violence Survivor

Senior Director Human Resources & Operations