top of page
News & Updates
Welcome to the Visioning Beyond Violence Blog. Here, we share our latest news, updates, and reflections on the fight to end gun violence in America. Dive into our collection of past and present newsletters, and explore current facts, stories, and statistics that shed light on the urgency of this issue.
Our blog is a resource for those seeking to stay informed and inspired, offering both insight and practical ways to engage in this critical movement. Together, we can envision and create a safer world.
Visioning Beyond Violence: The Growing Virtual Art Gallery
Our Virtual Art Gallery is a living archive of visionaries reimagining safety. Moving beyond statistics, we focus on the person behind the perspective. Each digital panel is a "visual testimony," shifting us from subjects of history to architects of a peaceful future. Through digital art and animation, creators process emotions, build empathy, and visualize alternatives to violence. This is our collaborative blueprint: proof that what we can imagine, we can create.
3 days ago4 min read
Hope Through Community and Conversation
In times of uncertainty, when systems feel fragile and trust in institutions falters, where do we turn for hope? We turn to each other. Across the globe, communities are witnessing deep fractures—from the struggles in Venezuela to challenges right here at home. In moments like these, connection becomes a lifeline. Community-based organizations like Visioning Beyond Violence (VBV) remind us that real power lies not in distant policies but in our shared humanity, in the healing
Jan 232 min read
Grief Across California, Hope Beyond Violence
This week, as the holiday season begins, one community remains grief-stricken. We are confronted with the strength of community and the heartbreak of escalating gun violence across California. Amidst loss, youth leadership demands acknowledgment, not forgetting.
Dec 3, 20253 min read
Reimagining Safety-Measuring Gun Violence Beyond Statistics
Measuring gun violence makes the true scope of harm visible beyond headlines and incomplete police reports. Reliable data (including non-fatal injuries and lived experiences) helps identify patterns, reveal racial and age disparities, and guide support and prevention. Visioning Beyond Violence pairs research with storytelling and art so numbers become human, actionable, and healing because we can’t solve what we can’t see.
Dec 2, 20256 min read
A New Chapter of Hope and Healing with Visioning Beyond Violence
Every day, an average of 125 people are killed by guns in the U.S., while more than 200 are wounded. Gun violence's harm is not just physical; it perpetuates mentally, leaving deep psychological scars on millions, especially youth. Gun injuries are the leading cause of death among children. Organizations like Visioning Beyond Violence address this trauma by providing support, tools, and safe spaces centered on physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being to empower y
Nov 20, 20254 min read
Gun Violence in 2025: Why the “New Normal” Is Still Too High
Gun deaths in the U.S. are declining, but remain far above pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, the firearm homicide rate was 5.6 per 100,000—still higher than 2019’s 4.4. Each day, seven children lose their lives to guns, with Black youth most affected. At Visioning Beyond Violence, we turn trauma into vision through art, dialogue, and healing. Together, we can disrupt the “new normal” and create safer futures.
Oct 4, 20253 min read
10 Years of Art, Courage, and Community: From Vision Quilt to Visioning Beyond Violence
“What we can imagine, we can create.” In 2015, artist-activist and educator Cathy DeForest, Ph.D., a former high school teacher and a longtime believer in the power of art to heal, sat heartbroken at the rising tide of gun violence in our country. Her mind turned to the AIDS Memorial Quilt and its quiet power to transform sorrow into solidarity. And she asked herself a bold question: Could we create a similar platform for people to envision an end to gun violence, together?
Sep 26, 20254 min read
2025 Insights: Broad Public Support for Gun Safety from the Johns Hopkins National Survey
In a time of polarization, the latest 2025 Johns Hopkins National Survey of Gun Policy reveals a powerful truth: Americans agree on...
Sep 26, 20253 min read
bottom of page