RINGING THE BELL OF REMEMBRANCE

One year ago this month, August 2019, we mourned the loss of Carl Bell, MD.

In our News posts of August 17th, (HE CAME, HE SAW, HE CARED) and August 25th, (COMMITTED TO CONTINUE HIS LEGACY) we acknowledged our debt to Dr. Bell’s inspirational life and pioneering research on violence prevention. His deep digging for root causes and correlating solutions set us on a path for confidently pursuing our mission of breaking the cycle of intergenerational incarceration and designing the early literacy programs that support this mission.

“If it’s predictable, it’s preventable,” said Dr. Bell. He showed how – despite such seemingly overwhelming risk factors as violence and poverty in children’s families and communities – protective factors such as positive identity with a cohesive and stable culture, community connections, education – including literacy and school readiness – prenatal health awareness and practices, parental supports and other “adult shields“ can be mobilized to overcome these risk factors.

Dr. Bell stressed that applying protective factors in a child’s earliest years – at birth, the nine months preceding birth, and through the first 1,000 months of life – is absolutely critical for effective and lasting impact.

These are the principles Dr. Bell discusses – only two weeks before his death – during his last television appearance on a July 17, 2019 Chicago Tonight panel “How Exposure to Violence Impacts Young Children in Chicago.”