by Rob Taylor Jr., Courier Staff Writer
Ebony Saunders. Chantell Brooks. Two African American mothers whose lives recently were forever changed.
Their daughters—Elarrah Findley, 18, the daughter of Ebony Saunders, and Chassity Clancy, 3, the daughter of Chantell Brooks—were shot and killed. But it was made apparent at a Prayer and Action Rally sponsored by the South Pittsburgh Coalition For Peace that the greatness the two young people brought to this world would never be forgotten.
Also made apparent: The families of the two victims and other families of young victims would endlessly be supported.
South Side Presbyterian Church was the site for this Feb. 18 Prayer and Action Rally that Rev. Eileen Smith, the leader of the South Pittsburgh Coalition For Peace, never wanted to have. She would much rather see the violence stop, and have African American communities become more of a safe haven. But, she knew this Prayer and Action Rally had to be called.
“We need to do something for change,” she told the New Pittsburgh Courier at the event. “We came to bring awareness to the problem of gun violence and especially in our youth. Too many of them are being shot and killed by either illegal or accidental gunfire. We need to bring the community together; all races, all religions, all backgrounds, because it truly does take a village.”
Elarrah Findley was shot and killed while trying to escape from a gunman in the 700 Block of Midland Street in Wilkinsburg on Nov. 24, 2019. Another person, 22-year-old Jerrell Jeffries, was also killed in the encounter.
Findley was a student at Passport Academy Charter School and wanted to become an Emergency Medical Technician.
Clancy was shot while she slept in a bed with another child and 52-year-old Marlin Pritchard, who, police said, was sleeping with a shotgun under his pillow. Pritchard, who lived in Beltzhoover, told police he woke up on Feb. 9 to a loud bang. That bang was the gunshot that killed Clancy, police said.
The Prayer and Action Rally, Rev. Smith said, was also for the numerous other youth who have been killed or affected by gun violence. Among them, she recalled 11-year-old David McIntyre, who was killed inside his Mt. Oliver home in 2015 during a home invasion. She also talked about the tragic shooting death of Marcus White Jr., the 15-month-old killed in East Hills in 2013.
Reverend Smith vowed not to allow any of the children’s deaths be in vain.
“Keep the family (of Chassity Clancy) in your prayers because this is a grief-stricken time for us, and we are definitely going through it,” said Thelma Grace, Clancy’s great aunt. “With God’s help, we know we’re going to make it through.”
“I believe God favors the faithful, so this is a time for us to be faithful,” added Richard Carrington, a member of the South Pittsburgh Coalition For Peace. “This is a time for us to fight, this is a time for us to do like we’ve never done before.”
Carrington didn’t bite his tongue during his commentary before the audience that assembled at South Side Presbyterian Church. He said he was asked to discuss the things that he and other South Pittsburgh Coalition For Peace team members do on a regular basis in the community. However, after he touched on how he continuously walks the streets of the South Side Hilltop neighborhoods, he discussed the reality—the violence still occurs.
“We are a roomful of people who have touted themselves for all the great accomplishments that they have fulfilled over the years, and yet we’re still burying our babies. Are we truly that uncivilized? Do we truly have no answers?”
Carrington added: “We have families here today that are hurting. That we have no answers for. Look in their faces, look in their eyes. If you can’t feel what’s inside of them, you have no reason being in this room.”
As the crowd listened, Carrington, after promoting positivity on South Side neighborhood streets for more than 25 years, then said: “I debated whether or not I still had it in me to fight the good fight. But when I went to Chassity’s funeral, how can I not fight?”
Talaina Peterson, an aunt of Findley, said at the Prayer and Action Rally that it’s all about “changing the mindset of our people.” Once that occurs, “then we will make change in the community,” she said. “We have to train our children to believe that you don’t have to be afraid of the police, if something occurs you can speak up and you don’t have to take to violence as a resort.”
As Peterson spoke, she motioned to the crowd a new group called “Elarrah’s Angels,” a group of youth in pink and white who loved Findley and looked up to her. The kids wore shirts with Findley’s photo on it.
“We have to make the mindset of our people different, because it is possible. We are not animals, we are not subhuman; we have the ability to think on a higher level and do things in a very different manner.”
(ABOUT THE TOP PHOTO: GERALDINE MASSEY consoles a grieving family member of Chassity Clancy, the 3-year-old who was shot and killed in a house in Beltzhoover in February. – Photo by J.L. Martello)
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