Black and Brown-led gun violence organizations are working to center children of color in gun violence post-Parkland.
On Thursday, March 22, at 6:00 p.m., gun violence prevention experts working in communities of color across the country will assemble for a special town hall event at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to highlight the need to invest in the country’s most effective policies and programs to prevent gun violence in communities most impacted by the daily gun violence epidemic.
The newly-formed National Black Brown Gun Violence Prevention Consortium will host the Urban Gun Violence Town Hall to include the voices of children of color, often lost in policy and program development conversations related to gun violence prevention after mass shootings in predominantly suburban communities.
“Less than three percent of gun-related homicides are headline-grabbing mass shootings, yet, Black and Brown lives are lost to gun violence in urban communities at levels which equate to a daily mass shooting,” said the Rev. Michael McBride, a Consortium co-convener and director of PICO National Network’s LIVE FREE Campaign. “Too often the needs of communities of color are left out of the national debate on gun violence, and effective, evidence-based policies that we know save lives – especially Black and Brown lives – are absent from proposed solutions.”
Organizers of the town hall will highlight the effects of violence in Black and Brown communities, articulate effective strategies to reduce violence, discuss the need for long-term investments to support the work of Consortium members, and connect participants to work happening in their communities.
Members of the Consortium include: PICO’s LIVE FREE Campaign, Community Justice Reform Coalition, Advance Peace, Dream Defenders, LIFE Camp INC., the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, Cities United, RECAP, Chicago Youth Peace, Chicago CRED, Justice League NYC, Center for Policing Equity, Institute for Non-Violence Chicago, The Justice Collabratory, LIVE FREE Chicago, Man Up! Inc., First Degree Consulting, LLC, and Render.
WHO: The National Black Brown Gun Violence Prevention Consortium
Key speakers:
- Michael McBride, director, LIVE FREE Campaign
- Erica Thomas, Georgia State Representative, District 39
- Lucy McBath, Activist and Mother of slain FL teen Jordan Davis
- Erica Ford, CEO and Founder of LIFE, Camp Inc.
- Ronnie Mosley, Founder, Millennials Movement
- Anthony Smith, Cities United
- Phil Agnew, Dream Defenders
WHAT: Urban Gun Violence Town Hall Meeting
WHEN: Thursday, March 22, 2018, 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Ebenezer Baptist Church, 101 Jackson St NE, Atlanta, Georgia
You can also tune in via Livestream here.
Interviews with organizational leaders are available. Please contact Heather Cabral, heather@westendstrategy.com, 202.550.6880.
Post-Townhall Events:
· Spring 2018 – 10 City Listening and Learning Gun Violence Tour with survivors of urban violence, mass shootings and suicides (target cities include: Miami, Dallas, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Oakland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Orlando, Minneapolis, Denver, Philadelphia)
· June – Annual Peacemaker Awards Banquet at BET Awards. Learn more here.
· August 22-24– Cities United Annual Convening (Mayors will engage on issues of workforce development, criminal justice reform, and police community relationships.), Knoxville, TN
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