National Rally to Focus on Homicide as a “Major Public Health Crisis”
Washington, DC, June 3, 2015 Black families across the country are being traumatized and whole neighborhoods are being destroyed by an epidemic of homicide that’s sweeping the nation and thousands plan to gather in Washington DC on Saturday, June 6 to demand that the country’s political leaders develop a public policy agenda that addresses homicide as a public health crisis.
Led by Mothers in Charge (MIC), a grass roots Philadelphia-based organization with chapters in six states, families and community residents from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, New York and Washington DC are expected to gather at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday morning to draw attention to homicide as a national tragedy.
Two dozen organizations that are members of the Institute of the Black World’s (IBW) Black Family Summit, along with several other national organizations from around the country are supporting the MIC’s Washington rally under the banner of “Standing for Peace and Justice.”
“Murder has claimed the lives of our loved ones, traumatized our families, and damaged our neighborhoods and communities for too long,” said Dorothy Johnson-Speight, executive director of Mothers in Charge, who lost her son to senseless violence a few years ago. “We call on all people of good will to stand with us to reduce the violence and heal our communities as we stand and speak for those who speak no more.”
Leading up to Saturday’s national rally, the organizers have put out a “call to action” not only to the public policy makers but also to members of the business, health care, education, faith-based and non-profit sectors to increase awareness of homicide and violence and to expand research, programming and funding related to this epidemic.
Recent studies indicate that homicide is the leading cause of death among African-American men ages 15-34 in the United States. Most of these cases are preventable. In the USA, the rate of unintentional death for children under the age of 18 is 10 times higher than the rate in other industrialized countries. The likelihood of a youth being murdered in the USA is 13 times higher than in other industrialized democracies.
Homicide and gun violence have severely impacted both the mental health and physical safety of community residents, particularly in the inner cities of America. Exposure to violence has been linked to depression, to domestic abuse, to increased rates of aggression, to forms of anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress and to physical conditions such as asthma and obesity.
“Our children are not innately more violent than children in other advanced countries,” says Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World (IBW). “The use of violence is a learned response. The presence and easy access to illegally-owned guns means that when our children and youth have disputes, rather than a fist fight, it has become a gun fight. Compared to other industrialized countries, the widespread presence of handguns accounts for these statistical differences in youth homicide, murder and injury.”
To build momentum for the June 6 rally on the Mall organizers will convene a Congressional Forum slated for Friday, June 5th at the Rayburn Office Building (Basement B-18, 9am-Noon) to discuss strategies for policies and programs that address homicide as a public health crisis.
Led by Cong. Danny Davis of Chicago and supported by Cong. John Conyers of Detroit, a panel of legal experts, advocates and persons who have been impacted by homicidal violence will focus on advancing legislation and expanding trauma and community-based services for victims of homicide.
Organizers say that access to such services requires sustained commitment and coordination across diverse partners, sectors and stakeholders.
Integral to prevention and reduction efforts is changing societal norms and values. The issue of homicide goes beyond an “urban problem” and encompasses US society’s tolerance for violence, for racial discrimination and for rampant inequalities in the areas of income, housing and education, all of which are contributing factors to gun violence which takes the lives of some 30 youth per day in the USA.
“With our Call to Action we are emphasizing the need to act now to solve the major public health crisis of homicide,” said Johnson-Speight. “To reduce homicide and violence in our communities we need public policies that support our efforts on the ground. Our youth must be protected from senseless violence and death and adequate investments need to be made in the research of trauma and in public education around this crisis.”
Contact:
Don Rojas, Director of Communications, IBW
Email: donjbrojas@gmail.com
Phone: 410-844-1031; 877-304-6667
Web sites: www.mothersincharge.org: www.ibw21.org.