Boston pastor issues Father’s Day challenge for Black fathers to help curb violence

BOSTON — A Boston pastor is calling on Black fathers across Boston and the nation “to step up” on Father’s Day on Sunday and help curb violence in their communities.

The Rev. Eugene Rivers, the founder of the Violence Reduction Task Force, said he’s challenging Black men to mentor Black youth in cities like Boston, which continues to grapple with street violence in neighborhoods.

“We are appealing to black fathers across the country to step up, to support black mothers who are raising their children alone and to work in strategic partnerships with law enforcement to mentor and monitor black youth,” Rivers said in a statement on Saturday. “We are appealing to black men to join this movement to save the lives of our children.”

Nearly all forms of gun violence have been rising among Black Americans, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The vast majority of gun deaths among Black Americans are gun homicides, and Black Americans make up the majority of gun homicide victims in the U.S.

On average, more than 12,400 Black people die from gun violence each year, with 15,548 such deaths in 2021 alone—the highest number on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research.

In the nation’s 20 largest counties, Black men ages 18 to 25 die from gun homicides at a rate nearly 19 times that of white residents, according to the CDC.

Rivers, a Dorchester pastor whose programs aim to get churches involved in curbing youth violence, also called for city leaders to address the gun violence in Boston neighborhoods in February.

Rivers is not alone in appealing to the city’s Black community to stop the violence on Boston streets.

In April, The Rev. Kevin Peterson called on Boston’s Black community to turn in guns after a man was shot dead in Roxbury.

“We also call upon the Black community to cease fire. So far, the vast majority of murders this year have occurred in the city’s Black community. This has to stop,” Peterson said in April.

“We are at a point within Boston’s Black community where it makes sense that we call on all Black people who have guns in Boston to turn them into local churches, post offices or local police stations,” Peterson said at the time.

Also Saturday, Boston Police made an appeal to the public to help find a 20-year-old South Boston man who is wanted in connection with the murder of a Sharon woman in Dorchester in February.

Stepheon Wells is wanted on a warrant for murder and gun charges in connection with the fatal shooting of Diva Ayuso, 32, of Sharon, who was found fatally shot in the area of 15 Fermoy Heights in Dorchester on Feb. 18, police said.

Wells was last seen in the area of South Boston, and he may have a firearm, police said Saturday.

At about 8:46 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, Boston officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation at 15 Fermoy Heights in Dorchester.

When officers arrived, they found Ayuso suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, police said.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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