Harrowing.

“R.I.P. T-Shirts” explored the grief, trauma, anxiety, depression, and social and economic factors that contribute to the gun violence epidemic in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.

Jonathan Robinson owns and operates one of many popular custom T-shirt stores in the area, and this short chronicles his business, many of his grieving customers, and his position as a de facto community leader.

The quote “…good for business, but not good for our people…” perfectly encapsulates the film’s aim. Creating t-shirts to honor victims have been a staple in Black communities hardest hit by gun violence, some of which are re-sold to help carry the financial burden of funeral expenses for the victim’s families.

The film highlighted the stark effects of how sudden tragedy debilitates a community, and shows how family and friends of recent victims cope with the anguish of feeling unsafe in their homes. A 13-year-old recounted the time she was shot in the face at a Fourth of July cookout in her neighborhood when she was 11, and how guilty she felt that she was able to keep living—she was mourning the loss of her 14-year-old friend who was tragically killed due to gun violence.

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These are babies. These are children.

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The short is bookended with a photoshoot where Robinson was prepping a group of young children (~5 to 10 years) for an anti-gun violence campaign he planned to circulate on social media. Distressing and disturbing to say the least, you can see the worry in their collective faces. The kids knew the blood and bullet holes they were donning were not real, but the morbidity translated through the photographs did not look staged.

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And that was the goal.

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This trauma is not unbelievable.

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The film makes clear that life’s many mundanities should not be met with the daily anxiety of personal mortality or that of your child(ren)’s.

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I appreciated the B-roll of D.C. areas, and Anwan “G” Glover (also a producer, “Slim Charles” from “The Wire” and D.C. legend/activist) and the Backyard Band’s score! Those elements added flavor and context to the community, though the content was not joyful.