"We will not stand by and allow our children to continue to fall victim to these senseless murders," stated Tony Herbert , community advocate and member of the Bed Stuy Safety Task Force. “We are in a crisis, and if the ‘village’ does not begin to come together to save our youth, the violence that has befallen our community will only get worse, thus creating a modern day form of genocide."
On Tuesday, August 7th, more than two hundred residents joined together in Bedford Stuyvesant’s Von King Park for an “Increase The Peace” rally during one of the National Night Out Against Crime events hosted by The 79th Pct Community Council in response to the execution-style murders of a young woman, Ofemi Hightower and two young men, Terrance Aeriel and Deshawn Harvey, the three teenagers were lined up against the wall of a Newark school car park and shot in their heads.
Brooklyn Community Advocate, Tony Herbert, along with Kim Best Simms, President of the 79th Precinct Community Council, Ryan Mack, Founder of All About Business (AAB) Financial Literacy Organization for Youth, Lance Ogiste, Sr. Counsel to Kings County DA Charles Hynes, Dr. Owen Brown, MECC Bedford Stuyvesant Safety Task Force, Nettie Paisley, Chairperson of the Life & Ethics Committee for the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, Taharka Robinson, Founder of The Central Brooklyn Anti-Violence Coalition, Darnell Canada, Founder of Project Re B.U.I.L.D and others came together to form the rally, demanding solutions to the problems resulting in gang violence and the murders of our children and young people.
During the rally, a moment of silence and prayer was implemented in honor of the young people who were shot and killed in Newark and youth, their families and loved ones all over the nation who have suffered and died as a result of violence.
“We will not stand by and allow our children to continue to fall victim to these senseless murders,” stated Tony Herbert , community advocate and member of the Bed Stuy Safety Task Force. “We are in a crisis, and if the ‘village’ does not begin to come together to save our youth, the violence that has befallen our community will only get worse, thus creating a modern day form of genocide.”
Congressman Edolphus Towns, Community Advocate, Tony Herbert, The Professionals Network Organization, The Ft. Greene Volunteers, Inc., AMAG (Awareness Magazine), The Phenomenal Women Group, Community Advocate, Nettie Paisley, NY CITIWORKS, Tomorrows Leaders, Inc., Lesedi Film Center, Blackbrooklyn.net, and other organizations are joining together with the NYPD for the first ever Central Brooklyn Youth Summit & Information Expo that will take place Saturday, September 8, 2007 at the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University.
Hosted by WRKS’ Barry Mason, WBLS’ Dr. Bob Lee, Ralph McDaniels of WQHT/Video Music Box and Ray DeJon also from Video Music Box, the Central Brooklyn Youth Summit & Expo will be a forum for young people learn where they can go for help, services, support, recreational, educational and vocational programs and access to resources that will allow them to understand that they have plenty of choices available to them as an alternative to gang membership and other detrimental activities . An entertainment showcase will also be presented, where young people from the Brooklyn community will get a chance to express themselves through visual art.
The event is sponsored largely by the NYPD and New York Life Insurance Company. Organizers of the Central Brooklyn Youth Summit and Expo at LIU welcome additional sponsors. If you would like to be a sponsor of the Central Brooklyn Youth Summit & Information Expo at LIU, if you or your youth organization would like to participate, or for more information, kindly send an e-mail to [email protected] .
Brenda Jeanne Wyche, Advocate for Solutions and Results, is Managing Editor for The Black Star News and Harlem Business News. If you have a solution, contact [email protected] . Maybe we’ll talk.
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