Week of Non-Violence: Group Expresses 'Outrage', Demands Action Against America's Homicide Rate by Hazel Trice Edney

Week of Non-Violence: Group Expresses 'Outrage', Demands Action Against America's Homicide Rate
By Hazel Trice Edney

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The total is 12,765. That was the number of murder victims across the U. S. in the year 2012, the most recent official count from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That number for one year is nearly twice the total number of American troops who have died in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan put together – approximately 7,000.

Of those 12,765 murder victims, approximately 1,100 were children under the age of 18. Sixty-five of the victims were between 9 and 12 years old. Ninety-six of the victims were between 5 and 8 years old. About 260 were between 1 and 4 and about 144 were just infants under the age of 1. African-Americans, at only 13 percent of America's population, made up more than 50 percent of the 2012 homicide victims.

But, one little girl who was struck by a bullet May 20 and is still recovering has sparked a movement by asking why she was shot. The story of 6-year-old Khalia, who fled despite being shot in the left leg while playing on a playground among 20 other children in the North West area of the nation’s capital, caused Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds to convince Black Women for Positive Change (BW4PC), to take action by calling for a “National Week of Non-violence” August 16-23.

“We cannot turn our eyes away. We cannot act like this question has not been raised. We have to say that we are here and that we will be here standing strong and standing long until we get some answers,” said Reynolds, a renowned journalist and BW4PC chaplain at a press conference June 16.

Standing in sweltering mid-morning heat on another North West D.C. playground with dozens of children playing only yards away, Reynolds and other BW4PC members and associates, vowed to do everything possible to make a difference in the nation’s homicide rate.

“We are really outraged. I think that sums up how we feel and why we’re standing here in the heat,” said Dr. Stephanie E. Myers, national co-chair of BW4PC. “We are outraged because every day you turn on the news, the first thing you hear is about another beautiful young person with potential and promise being shot or mowed down.”

Despite community uprising and outrage over homicide rates for decades, Myers said, there can never be enough until the violence ends. Standing alongside police officers and representatives of the Jewish and Islamic communities, she said the goal of the national week of non-violence will be to start changing “the culture of violence in America” which she said has largely become accepted and played out through television programs watched by children as well as in video games, movies and the entertainment industries. 

“We [as a nation] applaud guns for whatever reasons,” she said. “We want every American, every mom every dad every aunt, every grandmother to get real and realize our 6-year-old boys and girls deserve to be able to go on a playground and not get shot. We are outraged…Hip hoppers, rappers, bloggers, we’re talking to you too. Gang members, people out here who are returning from prison, we’re talking to you too. If you have been incarcerated, your child is at risk.”

Between August 16-23, Myers said the organization is asking individuals and organizations to host an anti-violence event to help teach young people the power of non-violence. Noting that the event could be big or small, Myers said it could be just a dinner party, back yard, park, or playground conversation. The point is to educate, she said. She added that she also wants legislation on gun control, mental health issues as well as opportunities for training in conflict resolution.

She issued a statement listing about three dozen elected officials across the nation who have issued proclamations for a “National Day of Non-violence” August 22. They include Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.; Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. The list also includes Mayors Vincent Gray of D.C.; Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans, and Michael Nutter of Philadelphia.

Assistant U. S. Attorney of D.C. Leutrell Osborne II and Alexandria, Va. Mayor William Euille, also attended the press conference.

“Just because we don’t have the problem in Alexandria doesn’t mean we won’t have it in the near future. So when we all collaborate as partners and work together, we address this issue and we would solve it,” said Euille. He said he would continue to lobby the U. S. Conference of mayors to spread the word during its upcoming annual convention, starting in Dallas June 20.  “I was one of the first members as a mayor to sign onto the U. S. Conference of Mayors’ illegal gun initiative back in 2007 and have continued to work with the organization against non-violence."

Unity and respect in spite of differences appeared to be the over-riding theme expressed by participants at the press conference.

“Let’s turn this culture around. Let’s change this culture of violence. We can do it,” encouraged Rabbi Batya Steinlauf, director of social justice and interfaith initiatives at the Jewish Community and Relations Council. “We must make it clear that violence is not a norm. We will not accept this in our society. We are better than that. We are more than that.”

Muslim Imam Talib Shareef, president of the Nation’s Mosque Majid Muhammad, made it clear that the Week of Non-violence is not only focused on street crime but domestic violence and bullying. “We say in many prayers now, ‘thy will be done’ God’s will is for us to have peace and move away from violence. Coming together will begin to do that,” he said.

Marcus Hughes, a youth advisor for the DC Branch of the NAACP said he is working to spread the word throughout the NAACP’s Youth and College Division as well as high schools and youth centers “about thinking twice before they act and about the consequences of their actions.”

DC Police Offers Douglas Berin and Derrick Ferguson also attended the announcement.

Berin said he can attest that change can be made with efforts by bigger police presence and community involvement.  He said the playground area where the press conference was held “was basically an open-air drug market” at one point. But, now, “It’s changed a lot and a lot safer place to be.”

Ferguson stood at the conference as both a law enforcer and a person who has known the emotional pain of crime and violence. On Dec. 9, 2012, his daughter 20-year-old Selina Brown was killed in a domestic violence incident as she attempted to board a Metro Bus. Her daughter in her arms, not even 2 years old, was also shot and is still recovering.  The shooter was the child’s father, Javon Foster, who then fled to New York and committed suicide, Ferguson said.

“It’s really trying because she has a lot of psychological issues pertaining to abandonment. She witnessed it because she was facing her father when it happened,” he said. “We do speaking engagement so she’ll know what we stand for…During the National Week of Non-violence we will do a different speaking engagement for every day of that week. We want to eliminate meaningless violence all together.”

This is the kind of scene that happens far too often across the nation, says Myers. She said BW4PC is sharing a special video that can be played to start conversations during the Week of Non-Violence. The educational video, titled “On Second Thought”, can be found on the organization’s website at www.blackwomenforpositivechange.org.

“America knows the power of non-violence because of Dr. Martin Luther King. And Africa knows about the power of non-violence because of President Nelson Mandela, and the whole world knew about Mahatma Gandhi,” Myers said. “Let’s get business people. We have to teach our children about, non-violent conflict resolution and anger management. You can be angry with someone, but you don’t have to shoot them!”