From: silenceisviolence.org@gmail.com (SilenceIsViolence)
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2010 18:56:01 -0800 (PST)
To: ;
Subject: SilenceIsViolence announces a Week of Peace and Service
January 2, 2010
A Week of Peace and Service: January 18�22, 2010
Each January, SilenceIsViolence marks the founding of our community-based campaign for peace by remembering victims of violence and re-establishing our commitment to work toward peace in New Orleans. This year, these events hold added urgency, as we are poised to elect a new mayor, whose leadership will be crucial to bringing about sustainable strategies and actions toward public safety.
SilenceIsViolence was founded out of the grief of New Orleanians losing too many loved ones and neighbors to homicide. One January morning three years ago, thousands of us marched to City Hall, where citizens from every neighborhood in the city demanded more direct and compassionate engagement by our leaders. Yet over the past three years, we have continued to suffer under the near-total silence of a mayor unwilling to engage with citizens in a meaningful and constructive way.
This January 18, on Martin Luther King Day, we will begin a week of service by inviting the 2010 mayoral candidates to speak about their specific plans for making us safer and leading us out of this public safety paralysis. A week of community service and anti-violence activism will follow, culminating in a �Strike Against Crime� on Friday, January 22. On January 22, we ask New Orleans residents to wear red in memory of victims and as a declaration of active work toward peace. We ask that all citizens find an opportunity to step outside their daily routines in order to proclaim with us that the violence in our communities is not normal and not acceptable.
At noon on January 22, SilenceIsViolence will hold a memorial to homicide victims in our city on the steps of City Hall. We invite you to join us there, and to let us know of your own ideas and plans for speaking out against violence and fostering community-based safety.
Activities currently planned for January 22 include:
� *Victims memorial at City Hall
� *Memorial motorcade, in memory of Dinerral Shavers and Helen Hill
� *Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force Peace Walk (Thursday evening, January 21)
� *Youth resource picnics at Lyons Playground and additional parks around New Orleans
� *�Crime Happened Here� public awareness campaign
� *The 5% Pledge by businesses concerned about crime (a portion of the day�s revenues is donated to community-based peace efforts)
� *Soccer in the Streets youth outreach
� *SilenceIsViolence RSD Peace Clubs displays
PLEASE SEND YOUR PLANS to SpeakUp@silenceisviolence.org, and we will add them to the list of activities on our website! If you own or operate a local business willing to take the 5% Pledge on January 22, please email us for more details, and so that we can acknowledge your participation and provide you with signage for your business.
Thank you for your work toward peace.
www.silenceisviolence.org
SilenceIsViolence is a project of the New Orleans Bayou Steppers Social Aid & Pleasure Club. The mission of SilenceIsViolence is to call upon both citizens and public officials to achieve a safe New Orleans across all communities. We engage youth in positive expression and actions to counter the culture of violence. We demand respect for every life, and justice for every citizen in our city.
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