News
Trauma as a tool to save lives
By Calvin Butts
When Natasha Christopher talks about her son’s murder, she’s matter-of-fact. “That destroyed my life,” she said. “No parent should ever be home asleep and receive a call that someone shot your son,” she added. “But it also gave me a voice.”
On June 27, 2012, her 14-year-old son Akil had been celebrating the last day of school. That night, he was shot in Brooklyn. Two weeks later, on his 15th birthday, he died from his injuries.
That voice Christopher speaks of is now part of a larger effort in East Flatbush, where community-led groups like Project ECHO and East Flatbush Village are working to stop violence before it starts. These organizations, built on trauma-informed care and neighborhood mentorship, aim to guide youth away from the cyclical nature of violence.
Project ECHO (Empowering Communities and Healing Ourselves) is a Cure Violence site backed by the city. It’s staff consists of mentors who come from all walks of life, who build trust with the youth of the community. One of them is Dejohn Huffman, who spent 27 years wrongfully imprisoned. Since his 2020 release, he’s been walking Brooklyn streets, mentoring young people.
Kurt Russell, a longtime East Flatbush resident and volunteer, sees the everyday neglect that leads kids into dangerous paths. “A lot of kids don’t know how to—don’t bathe… they wear the same clothes every day,” he said. “We just remind each other of our greatness… You’re a great black man. You’re a great black brother. Know that you can do it.”
For Russell, his timely guidance is something he longed for when he was a child.
“My pops was in my life, but he wasn’t active… I try to be active in their life, know what’s going on… Just their well-being.”
For teens like Dante and Dylan, that presence matters.
Dante said school is filled with “fights, like smoking, stuff like that.” At Project ECHO, he’s learning to set an example. “With this program, we could tell them stuff, like push them in the right path.”
Dylan, 17, came to Proejct ECHO through his father. “It felt like another home,” he said. “We’re pushing good mindsets and bringing positive energy.”
That positive energy is vital in a neighborhood where, according to NYU Furman Center, East Flatbush had 12.2 serious violent and property crimes per 1,000 residents in 2024, compared to 13.6 serious violent and property crimes per 1,000 residents citywide. But the nature of conflict has shifted.
“The biggest thing that we find ourselves dealing with is online bullying,” Huffman explained. “They’re trolling each other. They have this new thing where they call um, um, talking about people’s dead—like whoever passed away. They have a tendency to talk bad about them… so they attack their loss, verbally, which is then why when they see them, there’s no mercy.”
These online insults often escalate into real-life violence. Huffman and his mentors try to interrupt it in real time, and intercept the threats made against one another.
Russell recalled one incident: “We were tabling, a fight broke out… I got in the middle of it. ‘Yo brother, please don’t do this… think about your son right here.’”
Christopher now works with East Flatbush Village and leads Survivors Strong, a support group for families affected by gun violence. “The one thing that caused me trauma also gave me a purpose,” she said. “I wanted to make sure… they got the support that I didn’t receive.”
Her message is clear: “When there is unity, there’s strength in numbers. We are stronger together.”
Still, the work isn’t finished. “I wish these organizations weren’t needed,” Christopher said, “but they are.”
Until that changes, the people behind Project ECHO and East Flatbush Village will keep showing up—reminding youth, block by block, that healing is possible.