TUESDAY April 6, 2021: BLACK AMERICA: ARMED AND READY by award winning photographer Youngrae Kim and writer John Keilman from the Chicago Tribune: Faced with rising crime and social upheaval, more Black Chicagoans are seeking out firearms for their own protection. Grief and rage swept the country after the death of George Floyd under police custody in Minneapolis. His death renewed debate about racialized police violence and the disproportionate killing of Black Americans, who are up to four times likelier than white Americans to be killed by police. While there may be an uptick in Black people owning guns in the United States today for protection, it's not necessarily a new phenomenon. The majority of gun owners are white men, but in a 2017 survey by the Pew Research Center, 24% of Black people reported owning a gun, compared to 36% of white people. New organizations dedicated to Black gun ownership are emerging, aiming to provide a welcoming environment to newcomers and counter long-standing negative images of Black people with firearms. Welcome to: BLACK AMERICA: ARMED AND READY
© zReportage.com Story of the Week #781: TUESDAY April 6, 2021: BLACK AMERICA: ARMED AND READY by award winning photographer Youngrae Kim and writer John Keilman from the Chicago Tribune: Faced with rising crime and social upheaval, more Black Chicagoans are seeking out firearms for their own protection. Grief and rage swept the country after the death of George Floyd under police custody in Minneapolis. His death renewed debate about racialized police violence and the disproportionate killing of Black Americans, who are up to four times likelier than white Americans to be killed by police. While there may be an uptick in Black people owning guns in the United States today for protection, it's not necessarily a new phenomenon. The majority of gun owners are white men, but in a 2017 survey by the Pew Research Center, 24% of Black people reported owning a gun, compared to 36% of white people. New organizations dedicated to Black gun ownership are emerging, aiming to provide a welcoming environment to newcomers and counter long-standing negative images of Black people with firearms. Welcome to: BLACK AMERICA: ARMED AND READY

ARIEL CHARLES fires a pistol during a target practice class at Eagle Sports Range in Oak Forest. A Northwestern University study found that while white people bought more firearms overall last year, African Americans made up a disproportionate number of first-time gun buyers.
© Youngrae Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire

Concealed carry instructor MIKE BROWN teaches students the basics of gun operation during a class. Two dozen students in the class handled replica pistols and practiced their grips, shooting stances and the fine points of armed confrontation.
© Youngrae Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire

Students learn the basics of gun operation using replica firearms in Chicago. A gun industry survey taken in 2020, a record year for sales, noted that Black customers accounted for the largest increase of any racial group.
© Youngrae Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire

Concealed carry instructor MIKE BROWN shows ANDREA WILSON the basics of gun operation. Brown said students come to him because of fear of crime (especially carjackings), as well as concerns over racist violence and unrest.
© Youngrae Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire

Concealed carry instructor MIKE BROWN gives instructions to CHARMAINE CHARLES during a target practice class at Eagle Sports Range in Oak Forest, Chicago.
© Youngrae Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire

Concealed carry instructor MIKE BROWN, a former police officer, shows students the basics of gun operation during a class in Chicago. 'Look through that gun, look through it,' Brown commanded as the students extended their faux pistols toward pretend attackers. 'Imagine that that deadly threat is in front of you and you are trying to stop that threat. Don't look at the gun, look through the gun at the threat.'
© Youngrae Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire

Police investigate a shooting scene at the corner of Asbury and Howard on the Chicago-Evanston border. Four people are dead, including the suspect, after an hours long shooting spree. In Chicago, 703 people have been shot this year. That is 184 more than 2020.
© Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire

A shell casing is seen beside evidence marker #31 as Chicago police investigate the scene of a mass shooting near 79th Street at Morgan Street in Chicago. Fifteen people were shot outside a funeral home in Gresham on the South Side, the largest number of victims in a single Chicago shooting in recent memory.
© Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire

TANIQUE PARKER, 16, cries as she leaves the wake for friend and classmate Hadiya Pendleton at Calahan Funeral Home on Chicago's South Side. Police said Pendleton was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire of a gang feud on the South Side.
© Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS via ZUMA Wire