‘Defend yourself’: the Memphis gun club educating Black women and children on firearm safety

Ayanna Merriweather loads a firearm with dummy rounds while preparing for a demonstration during a gun safety and licensing class in Bartlett, Tennessee, on 8 February 2025. Photograph: Ariel J Cobbert/The Guardian

In the middle of a strip of industrial, single-story buildings, it’s easy to miss the offices of 901 Brothers Sisters Keeper gun club, the Memphis chapter of the National African American Gun Association (Naaga).

Inside the office multiple flags hang: the Black Lives Matter flag; the thin green line flag, which is often used by members and supporters of the US military; an American flag; and the Naaga flag, a red, black and green version of the country’s flag that reads: “community engagement”, “tactical training”, “safe storage”, “kid’s gun safety”, “self defense” and “mentoring” – tenets of the organization.