On August 21, 2025, Legion Field hosted the third annual Stop the Violence Football Classic in Birmingham, Alabama. This high school football rivalry between Parker High School and Ramsay High School is about more than just a win. It’s also about bringing attention to the epidemic of gun violence that continues to devastate their city.
Learn More About Gun Violence in Alabama
This game matters. It’s a space where students, families, and community members gather not only to cheer on their teams but also to honor those whose lives have been cut short. At this game, we’ve handed out resources. We’ve told stories. We’ve recognized survivors.
But at this year’s game, the devastating impact of gun violence was particularly close to home for our football players and our community. Just one week before the Classic, I got a call that no one ever wants to receive: Demetrice Beverly, an assistant coach of one of the teams playing in the Classic, had been shot and killed.
The news stunned me. When I searched for details, I learned he was killed during a domestic dispute—an argument that turned deadly. Demetrice Beverly was a coach and mentor at various schools across Alabama. His death shatters the lives of his wife, his three daughters, his friends and loved ones, and countless young people across the state.
Too many people will hear this story and think it has nothing to do with them. That this is something that happens to “other people,” in other kinds of lives. That belief—that complacency—is exactly how we got here. And it’s exactly why, over the past three years, I’ve worked to bring together organizations that do the hard work of violence interruption, mentorship, injury prevention, and grief support.
Gun violence doesn’t start with strangers. It doesn’t only happen in alleys or cities deemed unsafe by headlines. It happens in homes, between people who once loved each other. It happens when emotions run high and guns are close at hand. And in Alabama, guns are almost always close at hand.
Over the last few years, our state has dismantled even the most basic gun safety laws. We’ve made firearms more accessible, more visible, and less accountable. And in my work with Moms Demand Action, I’ve watched even more modest proposals—like secure storage laws to keep guns out of the hands of children or those in crisis—get rejected outright, for fear they might “infringe” on someone’s interpretation of the Second Amendment.
But what about the right to live? The right to grow up, to coach a team, to come home after a hard day? No amount of mentorship, no number of school assemblies, and no inspirational halftime speech can outpace the damage done when a gun turns a heated argument into a permanent loss.
That is why, for the third year in a row, we gathered for the Stop the Violence Football Classic. We wore school colors. We passed out flyers and honored the lives already stolen by gun violence. But we also grieved. Because even as we do everything in our power to stop the violence, we are still burying the people we were supposed to protect.
At a pep rally before the game, the Ramsay High School Football Team held up signs thanking school members “for keeping our establishment firearm free.” Additionally, Joy Ukeje and JaCohri Terrell, two high school students, designed banners to be displayed at the game encouraging attendees to work toward gun violence prevention. One banner read: “Stand with us against gun violence. We can make a difference TOGETHER.” The clothing of each student depicted on the banner represented the school colors of each high school in the Birmingham City Schools District.
The cost for each of the two banners produced was split between the Alabama Chapter of Moms Demand Action and funding from Senator Rodger Smitherman. JaCohri, who is also the Ramsay football team manager, had a great conversation on the field at the game. Senator Smitherman expressed an interest in funding a similar gun violence prevention banner for each of the Birmingham City Schools.
On August 21, football players from both teams carried flags honoring the victims of gun violence onto the field. There was a moment of silence to honor all who have been killed by gun violence in Birmingham in 2025—including Assistant Coach Beverly.
Representatives from the following community organizations tabled at the game:
- Moms Demand Action
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Pediatric Pandemic Network
- Children’s of Alabama Injury Prevention
- I Am Greatness, a local mentoring program
- One Hood W.E.N.S.
- Faith in Action Alabama
- Offender Alumni Association
- The Birmingham Promise
- Common Ground
- Mothers Who Want the Violence to Stop
- Urban League of Alabama
- PC Empowerment
- Voter registration with the Magic City chapter of The Links Incorporated
Throughout the evening, a secure firearm storage PSA from Aaron Donald, a former player for the Los Angeles Rams, played on the Legion Field JumboTron. The PSA shared the Be SMART framework, encouraging adults to secure their firearms and encourage others to do the same.
Unfortunately, some fights broke out in the stands during the game. Thankfully, no one was hurt during these incidents. I am grateful that, in this case, there was space between those who were fighting and a firearm. I couldn’t help but think that if we had been in a location where guns were permitted—most places in the state—the ending to those fights might have been very different.
The truth is, responsible gun ownership is a key way to keep our communities safe. Without it, we’re left with what happened a few weeks ago: a gun, a moment of anger, and no chance to take it back. That’s why we are all committed to ensuring that our efforts to end gun violence in Birmingham don’t stop with the Stop the Violence Classic. The game helped the Alabama Chapter of Moms Demand Action continue a conversation with the school board about a possible partnership between Be SMART and Birmingham City Schools. And Ramsay High School Head Football Coach Ronnie Jackson has made it a priority to continue his team’s violence prevention work off the field. He and his players plan to promote the life-saving Be SMART message in their communities.
Assistant Coach Beverly’s killing days before the Classic tragically underscored how far we have to go in our violence prevention efforts in Birmingham and throughout the state. However, the match-up between Parker and Ramsay high schools was also a reminder of the potential for healing and power to make change that can be found when we come together to try to stop the violence.
