On Friday, August 26, another person was
killed in Chicago escalating the number to over 80 people killed in the month
of August by Senseless Gun Violence. This time it was Nykea Aldridge, shot and
killed while she pushed her infant baby stroller. Ms. Aldridge, 32, was struck
in the head and arm by crossfire and pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital. The
mother of four and cousin of Chicago Bulls star Dwayne Wade is one of the over
460 people killed this year in the streets of Chicago. People on the frontline
of anti-violence efforts across the nation believe that it time to invest from
the ground up.
On August 30 at 11 a.m.,Tio Hardiman,
leading gun violence expert and the Executive Director of the Violence
Interrupter Initiative, will convene a press conference along with other
anti-violence leaders to announce the recruitment of high-risk gang members to
be hired as violence interrupters to launch an aggressive effort to stop the
violence in Chicago. The cite will be the Parkway Gardens, 6300 S Calumet
Aveune.
Tio’s Violence Interrupter model had
been replicated in 15 Chicago communities, 7 cities in Illinois, and presently
exist in 32 cities nationwide, and in England, Iraq, and South Africa. He has
dedicated his life and career to community organizing for peace and social
change. In 1999, Mr. Hardiman joined CeaseFire, an award-winning public health
model that has been scientifically proven to reduce shootings and killings.
Partnering with the Violence
Interrupters is national anti-violence leader Erica Ford, CEO of LIFE Camp,
Inc., who introduced the VIP (violence intervention and prevention) system to
New York which was adopted as the NYC Crisis Management System and implemented
in all five boroughs of the city through professional & unconventional
therapeutic wrap around services supporting the Cure Violence Model. Recent
media reports in New York highlighted how there were no shootings for over 530
days in LIFE Camp’s target area of South Jamaica, Queens. LIFE Camp is a
non-profit organization dedicated to preventing youth violence and providing
empowerment opportunities for youth who are educationally, economically and
socially disadvantaged, to help them stay in school and out of the criminal
justice system. LIFE Camp partners with several individuals &
organizations to bring meditation, yoga & transformational skills to
leaders and young adults.
Another partner in this emergency effort is Ameena Matthews from the Emmy Award-winning documentary “The Interrupters.” The 2011 film followed three violence interrupters over the course of a year and their journey to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once engaged in. Employed by the organization Ceasefire, the interrupters used their street cred to stop conflict before it escalated into foul play. Matthews fearlessly maneuvered through one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods to end violence and instill a sense of respect and responsibility in our youth and everyone she came in contact with.
Beast Anderson will represent the Global
Peace Keepers Initiative, a community action plan designed to help promote
peace, love and unity in a community that is plagued by crime and gun violence.
Peace Keepers offer services including
self-defense, conflict resolution, and CPR.
Finally, former New York City Police
Chief of the Department Philip Banks, III, will provide expertise on police and
community relations and remedies for decreasing gun violence.
Source: Mercury
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