I come to this work as a gun violence survivor, friend. My father, Robert Godwin Sr., was viciously murdered in a random shooting that was broadcast on the internet. 

Since President Trump took office, I’ve felt fear and rage every single day at the terrible actions he’s taken to specifically attack Black and Brown people and undo the progress we’ve made in the gun violence prevention movement over the past four years. But what his administration did over the weekend feels more personal than all the rest – a slap in the face to all the survivors who bravely do work in this movement. 

Last year, the Biden Administration hung pictures of survivors in the atrium at The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as a reminder of the human toll that gun violence takes, a reminder of exactly who the agents were working to protect every day.

I was so proud to have my dad’s picture up on that wall, amidst photos of police officers killed by gunfire, children slain in mass school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida – some of them loved ones of people who I now work closely with. I visited the memorial any time I was nearby. 

But, in one of its most callous moves yet, the Trump Administration removed all 120 portraits of victims of gun violence – including my father’s picture – from the ATF. Now, for all I know, my dad’s photo is sitting at the bottom of a trash can. The ATF used to be an agency dedicated to fighting for people. Now, it’s crystal clear that its mandate has become fighting on behalf of gun industry profits.

I know our community is stronger than this administration and in the face of Trump’s latest callous act, I’m calling on you, friend, to speak out in support of gun violence survivors across the country. >>

Trump’s Justice Department said “the decision to remove the portraits was not political,” but their actions speak far louder than their empty words, friend. Around the same time they took down my dad’s picture, the White House presented a plan to slash the ATF’s budget by a third, cutting millions of dollars in funds to the only federal agency working to ensure our nation’s gun laws are followed. 

I can't bring my dad back, but I darn well can do some good fighting for other people – that's what that wall meant for me. But its destruction won’t stop my fight, not when there are still so many lives that can be saved.

Thank you for standing with survivors like me today, friend, it means a lot. 

Brenda Joiner

Gun Violence Survivor

Vice President, Human Resources & Operations

My dad and I