My dogs pulled forward toward the Howard Street Dog Park as we passed First and Franklin Presbyterian Church. Outside hung purple ribbons, each representing a person killed by gun violence in the past year. 133 people were shot dead in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2025. The names of the murdered youth were posted between the ribbons. Some names were followed by the word “unidentified.” Several unknown youths appeared in a row, no names, just absence.

Their deletion did not begin with death. It began in life.

Most of us know what it feels like to have our name overlooked or mispronounced. The slight is easy to dismiss, but the message may land all the same, you do not count. Now imagine that experience repeated over and over for a child by an adult charged with their care. Over time, the diminishment compounds. A name is not a formality. It is recognition. We name those for whom we are responsible. To be named is to be counted. To be counted is to belong.

Research confirms what lived experience suggests. A 2024 longitudinal study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)