N'Kosi Barber manages Project Fire, a trauma recovery program for young victims of gun violence at Chicago's Firebird Community Arts. Akilah Townsend for The Trace
By Justin Agrelo, The Trace, July 7, 2023
It’s a chilly Sunday afternoon in February, and N’Kosi Barber is taking great care to stay focused. “Never pick up glass,” he says, referring to pieces on the floor. Glass can be deceptive, he explains. It may look cold, but it can be several hundred degrees hot.
Since 2015, Barber, a 30-year-old with a scruffy beard and a calm demeanor, has been a glassblowing teacher at Firebird Community Arts, a nonprofit arts studio in East Garfield Park, on the West Side of Chicago. He now manages the studio’s Project Fire, a trauma recovery program for young victims of gun violence.
Hundreds of people are shot every year in Chicago. During the first few months of 2023, however, the rate was 14 percent lower than the same period in 2022. Many factors contributed to this drop, and some say they include the work of community-based gun violence prevention groups like Project Fire.
Comments (0)