Clementina Tina Chéry
Chaplain Clementina "Tina" Chéry is the founder of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute located in Dorchester, Boston.[1] She founded the organization in 1994 after the death of her son to gun violence.[2]
Chéry was born in Honduras. When Chéry was ten years old, she and her mother emigrated to the United States. She lived in Dorchester for the rest of her life. In 1978, she graduated from a high school for young pregnant girls when she was pregnant. Chéry moved to Dahlgreen Street in Boston.[3] In 1988, she married Joseph Chéry.
Death of Louis Brown
On December 20, 1993, Tina's fifteen-year-old son, Louis D. Brown, was murdered in the crossfire of a shoot out.[4] The Mayor of Boston at the time, Thomas M. Menino, visited the home and offered condolences to their family.[3]
A year after Louis' death, Chéry set up the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute out of her home. The first iteration of the institute focused on advocating for restrictions on gun violence. Chéry and her husband created activities which enriched the youth to veer them away from gun violence. Tina Chéry created guides such as Survivors Burial and Resource Guide and Always in My Heart for families through the process of losing someone to gun violence.[1] The Chérys have kept Louis' room as a time capsule.
Activism and legacy
On July 8, 1996, Tina and her husband visited the White House to speak and support Bill Clinton's launch of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative.[5] In 1997, Chéry organized the annual Mother's Day Walk for Peace, a 3.6 mile walk through Dorchester.[6]
In 2013, Tina Chéry received the 3rd Annual Courageous Love Award from First Parish in Cambridge, an organization dedicated to justice and building community in the name of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The award acknowledged her work with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute in helping families who have lost their children due to gun violence.[7]
In 2020, Tina Chéry was Senator Edward J. Markey's guest to the State of Union.[8] In 2021, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute planned a collaboration with Emerson College and the Center for Gun Violence Prevention at Massachusetts General Hospital.[9] The three-year Boston collaboration aimed to address overlooked narratives of the gun violence crisis, aiming to model a new approach through media, arts, and communication, centering the communities most affected.
Chéry received an honorary doctorate from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts in 2012.[4] In 2023, she was recognized as one of "Boston’s most admired, beloved, and successful Black Women leaders" by the Black Women Lead project.[10][11][12]
References
- ^ a b "Meet Chaplain Clementina Chéry – Louis D. Brown Peace Institute". Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ Walker, Adrian (13 December 2024). "Three decades after her son's death, Clementina Chery remains a warrior for peace". Boston Globe (Online). Retrieved 2020-06-03.
- ^ a b Rotondo, Irene (2025-01-05). "How a Boston mom turned her son's murder into 30 years of healing and hope". masslive. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ a b "Chaplain Clementina Chéry | Boston.gov". www.boston.gov. 2024-03-18. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ "Remarks on the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative | The American Presidency Project". www.presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ Alanez, Tonya (10 May 2020). "With death of founder's mother to COVID-19, annual Mother's Day Walk for Peace takes on added significance - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ "Courageous Love Award". First Parish in Cambridge. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ "Senator Markey Announces State of the Union Guest Chaplain Clementina Chéry, Violence Prevention Leader and Founder of Louis D. Brown Peace Institute | U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts". www.markey.senate.gov. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ "Emerson College, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, Center for Gun Violence Prevention at MGH Announce Transformative Collaboration to Change Narratives around Gun Violence; Launch Event on December 2 – Louis D. Brown Peace Institute". Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ "Black Women Lead". Greater Grove Hall Main Streets. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
- ^ Sullivan, Mike (2023-10-04). "Portraits along Blue Hill Avenue honor Boston's Black women leaders". CBS Boston. Retrieved 2024-10-24.
- ^ Gaskin, Ed (10 April 2025). Black Women Lead: Boston's Most Admired, Beloved, and Iconic Leaders, 1700 - Present. Independently published. ISBN 979-8317465209.