Syracuse, NY -- Barbara Hills hasn’t been able to turn down a chance to share her anti-violence poetry since her son, Verdel Hills, 28, was shot to death in March. The lifelong advocate against youth violence said poetry is flowing through more than ever. But since her son’s death early on March 8, it’s been too painful to write...
Barbara Hills of Syracuse reads her poem "Another Mother's Heart Bleeds". She wrote the poem after losing her son Verdel Hills to a drive by shooting on March 8 2010. She recited the poem at the annual Mothers Against Gun Violence candlelight vigil in Clinton Square.Syracuse, NY -- Barbara Hills hasn’t been able to turn down a chance to share her anti-violence poetry since her son, Verdel Hills, 28, was shot to death in March.
The lifelong advocate against youth violence said poetry is flowing through more than ever.
But since her son’s death early on March 8, it’s been too painful to write down on paper.
So Sunday, during the yearly anti-violence vigil in Clinton Square, Hills recited one of her poems, "Another Mother's Heart Bleeds," from memory.
“I always hope somebody’s hearing me,” Hills said afterwards, holding a candle as the names were read of all 274 homicide victims since 1996. “I can only keep working at it and hoping.”
Her son, Verdel, was killed in a drive-by shooting on East Genesee Street after leaving a 12-hour shift at the IHOP in DeWitt. His killer has not been charged. Verdel Hills, of South Townsend Street, loved to cook and had worked at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que before getting the job at IHOP.
Ten years ago, Hills wrote a poem dedicated to her son called, “In My Son’s Shoes.” The introduction reads: “To my son, Verdel, who helped me to understand the hurt of a woman and the pain of a man.”
But Hills said Sunday she never thought the anguish in her poetry would intrude on her family.
More than 100 people gathered Sunday night to hear about a dozen speakers spread a message of self responsibility and unity to combat community violence. The annual event is sponsored by Mothers Against Gun Violence, lead by Helen Hudson.
Jacqueline Bean, a longtime member of the group, lost her son, Shaheen Bean, 33, in a fatal shooting June 26. Police said he was attempting to rob a family in the 2500 block of East Genesee Street when a resident disarmed him and shot him to death.
“I never knew how a mother felt until now,” Bean said Sunday. “It’s a very, very painful day.”
Keynote speaker Akua Goodrich, of Syracuse, gathered the grieving mothers at the stage to hand them journals and pens to write down their daily anguish, hoping to help them to heal.
“They will live again. They will breathe again,” Goodrich said. “Their children have been yanked out of their lives.”