Erricka Bridgeford

Last updated
Erricka Bridgeford
Erricka Bridgeford 03.jpg
Bridgeford in 2013
Born (1972-10-09) October 9, 1972 (age 51)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Citizenship United States
Known forActivism
TitleExecutive Director, Baltimore Community Mediation Center

Erricka Bridgeford is an African American activist from Baltimore. She worked to get Maryland's death penalty law repealed in 2013, and founded and co-organizes quarterly 72-hour "Ceasefire" weekends. Baltimore Ceasefire weekends began in 2017, in the hope of reducing violence. Erricka was named 2017's Marylander of the Year by The Baltimore Sun . [1]

Contents

Early life

Bridgeford was born on October 9, 1972, the oldest of four children. She grew up in Normount Court, a housing project in West Baltimore. Her family was close-knit, and her parents, she said in an interview, were like "the Huxtables of the ghetto," serving as surrogate parents to other young people in the neighborhood. The area was poor but not plagued with violence until the 1980s and 90s. Since then she has lost a brother, a stepson, two cousins (who were brothers), and several friends to gun violence. [2]

As a result of Amniotic Band Syndrome, Bridgeford was born without a right hand, and with four fingers on her left hand. [3]

Career

Bridgeford began her career working for an organization devoted to infant wellness. In 2001 she trained as a volunteer at the Baltimore Community Mediation Center; two months later she was hired, and in 2002 she became their director of training. [1] In 2005, Erricka became Director of Training at Community Mediation Maryland where she provided training to the 18 community mediation centers in Maryland, as well as to state agencies and organizations. [4] In 2020, she was named Executive Director at Baltimore Community Mediation Center. [5]

On February 3, 2018, she made a guest appearance on the online children's web series, Danny Joe's Tree House. [6]

Activism

Bridgeford has been involved in community activism since the late 1990s. The death of her brother David in 2007 inspired her to focus on ending violence. [4]

Death penalty repeal

Bridgeford began advocating for repeal of the death penalty in Maryland in 2009. Along with several other survivors of homicide victims, she testified before the Maryland legislature, spoke repeatedly to the press, and shared her personal story at rallies and other events. [7] She argued that justice could not be gained through revenge, and that the death penalty was a form of revenge. "It's not justice to me to have another dead body in place of my brother's dead body," she said in an interview. [8] Bridgeford believed the death penalty only brought more pain and failed to honor the victims; [9] she suggested to a CBS reporter that the money Maryland saved by repealing the death penalty could be used to provide services to the victims' families. [10] Senator Bobby Zirkin later cited the testimony of homicide survivors such as Bridgeford as a major factor in his decision to support the repeal. [11] The death penalty was repealed in Maryland in 2013.

Support for survivors of homicide victims

Bridgeford worked with a coalition of murder victims' family members and organizations to support Maryland House Bill 0355 (Programs for Survivors of Homicide Victims). The bill was designed to identify survivors of homicide victims as a group of victims, and to ensure yearly funding. The bill passed and was approved by the governor on April 14, 2015. [12] Maryland became the second state in the United States to provide specific funds and resources to murder victims' family members.[ citation needed ]

The same year, Senator Lisa Gladden introduced Senate Bill 0512, which called for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board to include a survivor of homicide. At the hearing, Gladden said that she was inspired by Bridgeford's advocacy for homicide survivors, and believed that someone who had lost a loved one to homicide should be included on the Board that makes decisions about providing resources to victims' families. The bill was signed into law on April 14, 2014. [13]

Baltimore Ceasefire 365

The idea for a ceasefire weekend was first suggested by hip-hop artist Ogun, who was working with Bridgeford on a rally for the anti-violence group 300 Men March. In 2017, with Baltimore's murder rate climbing, Bridgeford revisited the idea with Ogun and several other activists and began planning. [1] The idea was to see if the community could go 72 hours without a shooting, stabbing, or any other kind of violence; their motto was "Nobody kill anybody." [14] In addition, the effort rallied citizens to create and attend life-affirming events for 72 hours, while accepting the Baltimore Peace Challenge.

The first Ceasefire took place the first weekend in August, [14] and drew thousands of residents to special community events and activities. The second Ceasefire weekend, held in November, was even larger. [1] Events included basketball tournaments, a yoga class, art exhibits, [2] a sip-and-paint, a peace walk, and a campout. [15] During the November 2017 ceasefire weekend, Tony Mason was killed, and then, the weekend continued with 48 hours of zero shootings. During the third ceasefire weekend in February 2018, there were zero homicides. This was the first weekend in 2018 in which no Baltimore residents were killed. [16] The February 2018 ceasefire also began a stretch of 11.5 days without murder in Baltimore. This was the first time the city had experienced this since March 2014. [17] Bridgeford gave credit to everyone in the city who had been tirelessly doing good work for years.

When murders occurred during the first two Baltimore Ceasefire weekends, residents were called to show up at the murder locations to pour light and love into the space and into the traumatized community. This began a new campaign, "Don't Be Numb", which encourages Baltimoreans to notice when people are killed, and to remember that each life lost is a loss for all of Baltimore. This also gave birth to Sacred Space Rituals, in which residents go to murder locations to make them sacred ground. [18]

Bridgeford's efforts started a grassroots movement and "awakened a sense that the cycle of killing can be broken and that the power to do it lies in our own hands." She was named Marylander of the Year "for bringing hope to Baltimore in some of its bleakest hours." [1] In 2020, research published by the American Journal for Public Health showed that there was an estimated 52% reduction in gun violence during ceasefire days and no evidence of a postponement effect on either the next 3 days or the next 3-day weekend following each ceasefire weekend. [19]

Awards and distinctions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homicide</span> Killing of a human by another human

Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Maryland</span>

Capital punishment was abolished via the legislative process on May 2, 2013, in the U.S. state of Maryland.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Nebraska. In 2015, the state legislature voted to repeal the death penalty, overriding governor Pete Ricketts' veto. However, a petition drive secured enough signatures to suspend the repeal until a public vote. In the November 2016 general election, voters rejected the repeal measure, preserving capital punishment in the state. Nebraska currently has 12 inmates on death row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryland, My Maryland</span> Former state anthem of Maryland

"Maryland, My Maryland" was the state song of the U.S. state of Maryland from 1939 until 2021. The song is set to the melody of "Lauriger Horatius" — the same tune "O Tannenbaum" was taken from. The lyrics are from a nine-stanza poem written by James Ryder Randall (1839–1908) in 1861. The state's general assembly adopted "Maryland, My Maryland" as the state song on April 29, 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesley Baker</span> American murderer (1958–2005)

Wesley Eugene Baker was an American convicted murderer executed by the U.S. state of Maryland. He was convicted for the June 6, 1991, murder of Jane Frances Tyson, a mother and grandmother, in front of two of her grandchildren in Catonsville. He was the last person to be executed in Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Police Department</span> Municipal law enforcement agency of Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) is the municipal police department of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Dating back to 1784, the BPD, consisting of 2,935 employees in 2020, is organized into nine districts covering 80.9 square miles (210 km2) of land and 11.1 square miles (29 km2) of waterways. The department is sometimes referred to as the Baltimore City Police Department to distinguish it from the Baltimore County Police Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel I. Rosenberg</span> American politician

Samuel Isadore Rosenberg is an American politician who has served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing northwest Baltimore since 1983. He is currently the longest serving member of the Maryland General Assembly.

Murder of pregnant women is a type of homicide, often resulting from domestic violence. Domestic violence—or intimate partner violence (IPV)—is suffered by many, and when analyzing cases in which victims came forward, men are more likely than women to commit acts of severe domestic battery, and women are more likely to suffer serious injury as a result. Many of these women fear harm not just to themselves but also to their unborn children. Recently, more focus has been placed on pregnancy-associated deaths due to violence. IPV may begin when the victim becomes pregnant. Research has shown that abuse while pregnant is a red flag for pregnancy-associated homicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aisha Braveboy</span> American politician and attorney

Aisha Nazapa Braveboy is an American politician and attorney who has served as the state's attorney of Prince George's County, Maryland since 2018. She was previously a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing the 25th district from 2007 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy J. King</span> American politician

Nancy J. King is an American politician who is a member of the Maryland Senate from the 39th district since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as the majority leader of the Maryland Senate since 2020. King previously represented the district in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2003 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Waldstreicher</span> American politician

Jeffrey D. Waldstreicher is an American politician from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. He is currently a member of the Maryland Senate, representing District 18 in Montgomery County after serving two terms in the Maryland House of Delegates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Zirkin</span> American politician

Robert A. "Bobby" Zirkin is an American politician from Maryland and a member of the Democratic Party. He represented Maryland's District 11 in Baltimore County in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1999 to 2007 and in the Maryland State Senate from 2007 to 2020.

In 2015 there were 166,510 crimes reported in the U.S. state of Maryland, including 493 murders.

In the United States, the law for murder varies by jurisdiction. In many US jurisdictions there is a hierarchy of acts, known collectively as homicide, of which first-degree murder and felony murder are the most serious, followed by second-degree murder and, in a few states, third-degree murder, which in other states is divided into voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter such as reckless homicide and negligent homicide, which are the least serious, and ending finally in justifiable homicide, which is not a crime. However, because there are at least 52 relevant jurisdictions, each with its own criminal code, this is a considerable simplification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. T. Wilson</span> American politician

C. T. Wilson is an American politician and attorney who has represented District 28 in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2011.

Crime in Oakland, California began to rise during the late 1960s after the King assassination riots, and by the end of the 1970s Oakland's per capita murder rate had risen to twice that of San Francisco or New York City. In 1983, the National Journal referred to Oakland as the "1983 crime capital" of the San Francisco Bay Area. Crime continued to escalate during the 1980s and 1990s, and during the first decade of the 21st century Oakland has consistently been listed as one of the most dangerous large cities in the United States.

The American city of Baltimore, Maryland, is notorious for its crime rate, which ranks well above the national average. Violent crime spiked in 2015 after the death of Freddie Gray on April 19, 2015, which touched off riots and an increase in murders. The city recorded 348 homicides in 2019, a number second only to the number recorded in 1993 when the population was nearly 125,000 higher.

Daniel W. Webster is an American health policy researcher and the distinguished research scholar of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is also the deputy director for research at the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence, and the first Bloomberg Professor of American Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2016, he became the director of the Johns Hopkins-Baltimore Collaborative for Violence Reduction, a joint crime-fighting effort between Johns Hopkins and the Baltimore Police Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">April Rose (politician)</span> American politician

April R. Rose is an American politician who is a member of the Republican Party who represents the fifth district in the Maryland House of Delegates. She has also served as the Assistant Minority Leader since 2021.

White Marylanders are White Americans living in Maryland. As of 2019, they comprise 57.3% of the state's population. 49.8% of the population is non-Hispanic white, making Maryland a majority minority state. The regions of Western Maryland, Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore all have majority white populations. Many white Marylanders also live in Central Maryland, including Baltimore, as well as in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Garrett County (97.5%) and Carroll County (91.9%) are the counties with the highest percentage of white Americans. Garrett and Carroll counties also have the highest percentage of non-Hispanic whites at 96.3% and 88.7%, respectively. Prince George's County (27%), Baltimore (30.4%), and Charles County (42.8%) have the lowest percentages of white people. Prince George's County has the lowest percentage of non-Hispanic whites, at 12.5% of the population. White Marylanders are a minority in Baltimore, Cambridge, Charles County, Jessup, Owings Mills, Prince George's County, Randallstown, and White Oak. Non-Hispanic whites are the plurality in Montgomery County, Columbia, Elkridge, Reisterstown, Salisbury, and Severn.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Marylander of the Year: Erricka Bridgeford". The Baltimore Sun. December 28, 2017. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Baltimore Activists Hold Second Cease-Fire as City Reaches 300 Homicides". NBC News. November 3, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Erricka's ABS story". Amniotic Band Syndrome. 16 February 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Reducing Violence and Injustice Through Community Mediation". University of Massachusetts Boston. November 9, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  5. ↑ "StackPath". afro.com. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  6. ↑ "Sticks, Stones and Smartphones: Part 2". Danny Joe's Tree House. Season 2. Episode 10. February 3, 2018. Event occurs at 3:50. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  7. ↑ Stone, Michael (July 3, 2013). "Victims' Families Lead the Way in Maryland Repeal Campaign". National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Lawmakers, Advocates Want End To Death Penalty In Md". CBS Baltimore. March 20, 2012.
  9. ↑ Bubala, Mary (February 13, 2013). "The Ultimate Debate: Gov. O'Malley Fronts Push To Repeal Md. Death Penalty". CBS Baltimore. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Live or Die: Marylanders Rally In Support Of Death Penalty Repeal". CBS Baltimore. January 31, 2013 – via Youtube.
  11. ↑ Wagner, John (February 20, 2013). "Zirkin announces support for death penalty repeal, bolstering prospects for passage". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  12. ↑ "HB0355 (CH0223): Criminal Procedure - Programs for Survivors of Homicide Victims". General Assembly of Maryland.
  13. ↑ "SB0512 (CH0177): Criminal Injuries Compensation Board - Membership - Family Member of Homicide Victim". General Assembly of Maryland.
  14. 1 2 "'Nobody Kill Anybody': Working For A Pause In Baltimore's Violence". NPR. July 22, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Community Mediation: Organizer Erricka Bridgeford talks Baltimore Ceasefire". City Paper. August 2, 2017. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  16. ↑ Rector, Kevin. "Organizers celebrate first Baltimore Ceasefire weekend without killings, 'keep trudging forward'". baltimoresun.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  17. ↑ Athena Jones; Elizabeth Joseph. "Baltimore goes 11 days without a homicide". CNN. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  18. ↑ "Peacemaker Erricka Bridgeford Works to Stop Bloodshed in Baltimore". Afro. Associated Press. 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
  19. ↑ Phalen, Peter; Bridgeford, Erricka; Gant, Letrice; Kivisto, Aaron; Ray, Brad; Fitzgerald, Simon (2020-02-20). "Baltimore Ceasefire 365: Estimated Impact of a Recurring Community-Led Ceasefire on Gun Violence". American Journal of Public Health. 110 (4): 554–559. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2019.305513. ISSN   0090-0036. PMC   7067107 . PMID   32078352.
  20. 1 2 "Theme: Superpowers". TEDxMidAtlantic. October 27, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Baltimore Woman Named Peacemaker of the Year". ABC 2 Baltimore. September 29, 2017. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Best Baltimorean: Erricka Bridgeford". citypaper.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2018-02-06.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.