Community to Launch Long-Term Effort to Curb Black on Black Crime
Feb. 8 Church Sermons to Focus on the Theme: "Celebrate Black History ‹Stop the Violence."

(LOS ANGELES)‹The newly-formed African American Summit on Violence Prevention (AASVP), a growing collaboration of individuals and community-based organizations to develop solutions to preventing black-on-black crime, will launch the first in a series of community events to focus on the out-of-control problem this Sunday, Feb. 8.

Southland churches, part of the AASVP faith-based component, will preach sermons to their congregations on Sunday and throughout the month of February with the theme "Celebrate Black History ‹Stop the Violence."

The pulpit messages will stress the importance of historical contributions that African Americans have made, but that increasing black on black violence is destroying families, neighborhoods, businesses and the overall quality of life. Black children are being killed on school campuses, parks, on church doorsteps, and in many cases, their own homes. The message will be that "the community can no longer ignore the phenomenon of black on black violence."
The services will be followed by afternoon marches beginning at 2:30 p.m. from the participating churches to nearby locations, identified by local law enforcement as sites where homicides have occurred. The participating churches for Sunday¹s launch include First African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E) Church, 2270 South Harvard Blvd; Bryant Temple A.M.E. Church, 2525 W. Vernon Ave.; and Faith United Methodist Church, 1713 W. 108th Street.

For more information on on-going AASVP faith-based activities, call Rev. Al Washington at (626) 794-9520 or Rev. Leonard Jackson (323) 730-9199.

About the AASVP
The AASVP convened its first meeting late last year after hundreds responded to an October op-ed article titled "Blood & Silence," written by political commentator Kerman Maddox. The article, published in the Los Angeles Times and several local weekly publications, challenged local black leaders to sit down to discuss the problem.
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The response was tremendous, with over 200 committed community leaders representing religious, civic, business, law enforcement, criminal justice, political, academic, labor, entertainment family, gang intervention, black media and youth organizations, gathering for a two-day working summit on the campus of USC to develop specific recommendations to reduce black on black violence.

From the initial AAVSP meeting, its participants agreed that the problem is clear, and that the main focus must remain on seeking solutions to gang, domestic, and various types of violence that lead to the destruction of the black community.  

"This is just the beginning. This is something that is going to be ongoing. [But] all together, this was an extraordinary first step," Maddox said, cautioning those who may be looking for a quick, magical transformation.

"At a minimum, it¹s going to take one year," Maddox said. "You need a plan. At maximum, it¹s going to take up to five years. We¹re going to keep our heads together and continue to brainstorm and see what we can do to stop the violence.

Khalid Shah, executive director of Stop the Violence, Increase the Peace Foundation, said he was thrilled when he left the summit in January.
"I think that was one of the most inspirational two days that I have spent here in Los Angeles in the last ten years," Shah said. "I think that all of the participants was focused and I think they¹re intent on stopping the violence. People are generally tired of this [violence]. I was thoroughly pleased."

Shah added that the summit came at the right time.
"It was a summit whose time had come," Shah said. "I think that it was a matter of saturation. Clearly, every aspect of our community has been affected by violence. I think our community is 100 percent dissatisfied with the state of what¹s going on. Nobody is going to respect us until we respect ourselves."

February AASVP ­Supported Activities Targeting Youth
As part of the ongoing AASVP effort, youth empowerment camps will be organized by schools, community groups and churches to instill manhood and womanhood skills, self esteem, personal and community responsibility and basic life-skills. The AASVP-supported events targeting youth for the month of February will include the following:

Saturday, Feb. 14‹a volunteer recruitment effort by the Increase the Peace, Stop the Violence Foundation for a countywide Safe Passage Program for youth, and to provide adult mentors. Contact: Khalid Shah (323) 839-8343.

Saturday, Feb. 28‹the Strategies for the Development of the African American Manchild XII, an all-day conference at the University of Southern California with workshops addressing the many complicated issues affecting youth. Contact: Torre Reese (323) 295-6571 ext. 3020.
 

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