MEMPHIS, Tenn — Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, who witnessed a drive-by shooting months ago, is now a candidate for city council.
Cooper-Sutton, a resident of Memphis for more than 20 years, witnessed a drive-by shooting months ago alongside a reporter from ABC24. She said she lives with the memory of that day every day.
“I wouldn’t want anyone to ever experience what I’ve had to experience,” Cooper-Sutton said.
The shooting also pushed her to go to Nashville for the special session, but the bills she hoped would get passed did not.
“The majority are Republican men who just seem heartless to what is happening to our children,” Cooper-Sutton said.
While she doesn’t have kids currently in school, she’s passionate about the young people at-risk in her community.
“We have grandchildren that are school age,” Cooper-Sutton said. “And I have nieces and nephews that are school age. My neighbors, my friends.”
School-age children are one of the biggest forces behind gun reform legislation on the hill.
“It is terrifying to me. It is terrifying for them. It really has saddened me to see that we have to fight for our children constantly just to be safe," Cooper-Sutton said.
Both the House and Senate reconvened Monday afternoon for special session, but in the first four days, they passed less than 15 bills combined in the legislature. But Yolanda is hopeful for change.
“I truly believe a change will come,” Cooper-Sutton said. “So, we keep fighting. And we keep marching. And we keep going to the capitol, and we keep protesting.”