A.J. Carr, in a Santa hat, is flanked by families who have lost loved ones to gun violence, including LaToya Howell (second from right), and her daughter, Jayla.
A.J. Carr drove to Chicago’s west side on Dec. 18 with a carload of donated gifts from Madison residents. He traveled with his parents, Dorecia and Durante Carr, and his younger siblings to Amberg Banquet Hall, where they delivered an early Christmas to children touched by gun violence. Carr turned 14 that day, and this was his birthday gift to himself.
Gun violence is personal to Carr, whose grandmother, uncle and cousin were murdered in Chicago. After spending this summer in Chicago, he founded the Madison-based organization Building Bosses, a nonprofit dedicated to building leadership and entrepreneurship in youth of color, in part to address the grief of violence. This year alone, more than 4,000 Chicago families were affected by shootings.
LaToya Howell’s 17-year-old son, Justus Howell, was killed by police in April 2015 in Zion, Illinois. A month after her son was killed, Howell traveled to Madison to attend the Justice for Tony Robinson Rally, where she befriended Carr. “Only a handful of people in the world have the kind of determination that A.J. has; this was something from his heart,” says Howell, who attended the Chicago event.
Howell isn’t the only one in awe of Carr. “I look forward to seeing what that kid does. It’s going to be something pretty amazing,” says Becki Rayln of Monona, who contributed to Sunday’s event. Rayln met Carr during his first Madison event at Warner Park in September, where he connected Madison police and firefighters with families of color. The goal was to help emergency responders see black youth less as suspects and more as sons, daughters, sisters and brothers.
Rayln decided Carr was someone she wanted her mixed-race daughters to learn from, so she and her wife, Jessica, and their daughters, Alex and Charlee, volunteered at the event. Since then, Rayln helped organize and promote another one of Carr’s events.
“My daughter Alex said she didn’t realize you can do things at a young age, that you don’t have wait until you’re older to make a change,” says Rayln about Carr’s influence. “He and his family are positive people to be around. As two lesbians raising two biracial kids, it’s nice to be around a family that has ideas of how we can all live in harmony.”
Bethany Johnson is a retired Monona resident who volunteers with the Giving Tree, a program that facilitates gift-giving from parents in prison to their children. She met Carr during his October Building Bosses event and was moved. When there was an overflow of people hoping to contribute to the Giving Tree, she recommended they give to Building Bosses’ Chicago Christmas event instead.
“It’s hard for people to grasp what this young man does and where his heart is,” says Johnson. “Just from delivering toys to their home, you realize it’s real. He gets a lot of attention, but I never felt it’s about him; it’s about the children in Chicago and serving them. He sets an incredible example for the youth and the adults around him.”
Despite Sunday’s snowfall, more than 30 kids came out with family members from five extended families. The children, who were identified through social media and interviews through Chicago media, each received a gift selected for them and wrapped with their name on it — Barbie dolls, action figures, remote-control trucks and trains, as well as gift certificates for older teens. The children were also able to select from an assortment of clothes and other toys. The remaining gifts were then given to Howell, who added it to the children’s holiday giving program for her organization FOCUS (For Our Children’s Undistracted Success).
“People look at the number of shots, and some think it’s an issue too big for anyone to take on,” says Carr. “But we all need to do whatever is within our power to help this situation. This is what I can do.”
