Jeanette Culpepper

A ST. LOUISAN advocate for violence prevention,

Jeanette Culpepper lost her son, Curtis Johnson Jr., to gun violence in 1991 and held a candlelight vigil every New Year’s Eve at the Williams Temple Church of God in Christ. Jeanette founded not-for-profit Families Advocating Safe Streets, which confronts the epidemic of traffic violence by advocating for life-saving changes and providing support to those who have been impacted by crashes.

As her granddaughter Asia Johnson said,

“She could talk to a crowd of people, She had no problem with her opinion…she stood up against whoever. I don't know one person that my grandma backed down from. She stood up for what she believed in. She fought for what she believed in. She advocated for not only herself being a mother [who lost] a child to gun violence, but she advocated for all of those mothers, all of those fathers, [and] all of those children that lost their parents to gun violence.”

You can read more about her life at the link below.