This
forum was very positive and informative
for the African-American community and all communities as a whole.
All of the panelists had something to bring to the table.
STOP
THE MUSIC TO STOP
THE VIOLENCE
By
Staff Writer Ashley G. Woodson
For Brotha Ash Productions
The Black Pittsburgh Entertainment Company
www.BrothaAshProductions.com
Valerie
Dixon,
who lost her son due to gun-violence knows first hand about crime
in the African-American community. She is the Co-Chair of Divine
Intervention Ministries, which is a faith-based, non-profit organization
dedicated to stopping violent crime and helping victims families
get the help and support they need to put their lives back together.
"As
an advocate, a lot of what we see are witnesses not following through
when giving information. It's a great thing for youth to respond
to violence," Dixon adds. "There are two-hundred and fifty
youth dealing with police officers as a relationshiop. This is under
the guidance of Juvenile Court DMC (a statewide initiative) that
makes people comfortable about coming to the police. There are people
wearing "Stop Snitching T-Shirts"
when we should wear the "Stop Killing
T-Shirts" created by Team Neva."
William
Anderson was apart of the forum from a political standpoint.
His family is rooted in politics back to his grandmother. "The
African-American community gets up in arms about issues, but they
are not holding their officials accountable," Anderson said.
He is a part of PA Coalition of Young Democrats which focuses on
young democrats in Pennsylvania. Anderson adds, "There are
many programs for our youth to be apart of: The YMCA in Homewood,
afterschool programs, Summer Camp and Team Summit just to name a
few."
Jonas
Chaney of WPXI (Channel 11 News) believes that people in
the community should come out as a unit when dealing with violence
in the streets. "Introduce your children to the concept of
community service," says Chaney. "African-Americans do
not hear about community service until they are in front of a judge".
Chaney is also an advocate to "Stop
The Violence" and
will continue to do his part on his weekly talk show Impact
on WPXI-TV. If you are a member of a non-profit
organization or would like to discuss an important community issue
please contact: Jonas Chaney, Director of Public Affairs, at 412-237-1491.
Prior to calling, please fax your information to 412-323-8097 or
E-mail: jchaney@wpxi.com.
Robin
Mungo, PA State Trooper, wants the community to know that
the police are people too. "I hug my kids and tell them I love
them. We are people first and some people do not respect that fact",
states Mungo. You can not do this job and not want to help people."
When members of the community see the police, they are fearful of
being labeled as a "snitch". Mungo had statistics that
state female violence is very prevalent in our communities. She
feels that the police and the community needs to open the lines
of communication.
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