Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachael Joseph.
Hi Rachael, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I was 25 years old, I was studying to be a veterinarian. I’d just gone to bed after working a long overnight shift in the emergency room and my phone wouldn’t stop ringing. All my friends and family knew I’d be sleeping at 9am on a Monday morning, so it was odd that the phone was ringing off the hook. I finally listened to one of numerous voicemails–it was my dad.
He said, “your aunt Shelley has been shot downtown Minneapolis and she’s in emergency surgery at HCMC. Get here as soon as you can.” At that point, my body’s physiology just took over. My hands started shaking uncontrollably. Somehow I made my way to my car and parked downtown. When I finally found my dad in the emergency room at HCMC, he told me that my aunt Shelley had died. I screamed a scream I didn’t recognize, like an animal, and my knees buckled.
I learned that Shelley had been shot to death by a distant cousin who’d been harassing, stalking, and threatening Shelley for at least a year. Shelley received vile letters, threatening voicemails, and numerous dead cats on her doorstep. Despite aggressive, threatening behavior, that cousin was able to go to a gun show and easily buy a gun for $60 through a private sale. That sale required no paperwork or background check under Minnesota law and was perfectly legal. I never returned to studying veterinary medicine and have been working since 2003 to tighten gun laws at the municipal, state, and federal levels.
In 2018, I founded Survivors Lead in order to ensure victims and surviving family members impacted by gun violence are receiving the support and services they deserve, as well as offering leadership training for survivors interested in running for public office.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has definitely been a long, bumpy road to help legislators understand that gun reform policy doesn’t ONLY look like restricting gun access. Certainly, we must ensure background checks are done on all sales, whether they’re private or conducted by a federally licensed firearms dealer. We must do more to disarm domestic abusers and keep guns away from those who are a danger to themselves or others with extreme risk protective orders. But, we must be honest about the fact that we live in a country that has over 400 million guns in civilian hands. We need to do more to ensure gunshot victims and surviving family members receive immediate, trauma-informed services–and we must do this through a lens of racial equity. Every day in this country, 100 people are shot and we have 25 times the gun deaths of other peer nations. Yet, victims’ services are understaffed, underfunded, and don’t cover some of the most important gaps in services for folks who’ve survived being shot or having a loved one stolen by gun violence.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am the Founder of the nation’s only gun reform and direct service organization led 100% by survivors, Survivors Lead. I also work as the HFA Program Coordinator at The Family Partnership in Minneapolis, where our services aim to disrupt intergenerational cycles of poverty, adversity and trauma.
I am a former Survivor Engagement Lead with Mayors Against Illegal Guns/Everytown for Gun Safety and former Director of Outreach and Communications at Protect Minnesota, both gun violence prevention groups. I’m a 2019 New Leaders Council Fellow and currently serve on the Board of Directors at Art is My Weapon MN, the Hennepin Healthcare MVNA Board, and the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association Board of Directors. I also do crisis relief work as an advocate for victim/survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking.
I also have a background in electoral politics as a former Field Organizer for Representative Raymond Dehn’s Mayoral campaign, former Campaign Manager for Neighbors for Sara Freeman, former Communications Director for Paul Thissen for Governor, and former Campaign Manager for Representative Jim Davnie. I founded Survivors Lead with the philosophy that gun reform will be achieved through a more representative government by electing public servants that are also trauma survivors.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Great question. The most important thing I’ve learned is how to be disliked. As a young advocate and organizer, I thought pleasing everyone with moderate policies was the way to get things done. However, we’ve been discussing our country’s gun problem in moderate terms for decades now and nothing has changed. We don’t even have background checks on all gun sales yet. I don’t care if lawmakers like me or not–instead, I need them to have empathy and courage. The best allies in the legislature listen and empathize with our stories, our lived experiences, and write policy that addresses the gaps in services we’ve been forced to navigate. We need lawmakers with the courage to turn our experience into forward-thinking, survivor-centered policy.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: survivorslead.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/survivors_lead
- Facebook: facebook.com/survivorslead1
- Twitter: twitter.com/survivors_lead
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/_ep3sfRJ3SY
Image Credits
Woodford Sisters Photography
Rita Farmer Photography
Joe Quint
Star Tribune
