On June 25, 2001, my “one and only” son, Robert James Dixon, was gunned down with a stolen .357 Magnum. To try and make sense as to why my son, who was only two weeks away from going to the Atlanta Falcons Summer Practice Camp to show off his skills, was now lying in a casket was incomprehensible. I knew I had to channel this tremendous amount of grief I endured into another energy.
I immediately began with “where are these guns coming from” since four of my son’s other friends were murdered five weeks after his death. In attempting to find the murderers, I created The “Prevent Another Crime Before it Happens” billboard campaign, to assist the community with “Unsolved Homicides.”
To date, the campaign has contributed to 39 trials and 34 convictions. The campaign also provides families with resources to assist them in their healing process and creates an avenue where these impacted families and communities can get involved in violence prevention and intervention initiatives, working in partnership with my organization called The P.A.C.T. Initiative. I am also the co-convener of The Coalition Against Violence, where we’ve worked with the over 500 community members to develop the Strategies for Change documents that list over 833 strategies of what anyone, from every segment of society, can “get involved” in violence prevention and intervention to make a difference in their communities.