FOUNDER’S
REMARKS
Ms.
Joyce M. Raynor
Black On Black Crime Coalition Press Conference
August 6, 2003 • 10 a.m. CST
Haven of Rest Cemetary • Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Coalition members
and partners, citizens of Little Rock, and members of the press…
Good Morning. Thank you for coming out in this Arkansas heat/humidity
to stand with the Black on Black Crime Coalition. I know you all
are probably hot and tired of standing, but you’re not alone
because I’m tired too. Tired the violent crime that claims
more 25-44 year old black men than heart disease, cancer, or diabetes;
and kills more 15-24 year old black men than anything. I’m
sick and tired. But friends, in the poignant words of Fannie Lou
Hammer, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.
That is why
we are here today… to sound the alarm that has been silenced
by desensitization for far too long. Little Rock, like the rest
of the nation, is indifferent when it comes to thinking, feeling,
and acting on a problem that is as much a public health epidemic
as hypertension, as much an economic development issue as public
education, and as much a social dilemma as poverty. The Black on
Black Crime Coalition stands here this morning committed to changing
the hearts and minds of people about this problemthrough
education, awareness, and action.
Continued inaction
or reaction will only bring us right back to this cemetery. We can
seek justice from law enforcement and the courts, but prevention
and intervention has to come from us. It has been my life’s
mission to do everything in my power to help people affected by
this crisis since January 5th in 2001, the day my son was killed.
I quit my job of 14 years with the Chamber of Commerce, and worked
full-time to open the doors of the Center for Healing Hearts and
Spirits, a project that was created by the Women’s Council
on African Affairs to assist victims of violent crimes and terminal
illness as well as their affected family members. I serve as executive
director for the Center, and work every day to help pick up the
pieces of human lives left shattered by black-on-black crime in
Little Rock.
You can’t
watch or read about the destructive impact black on black crime
has on families, communities, and our city as a whole. Burial costs,
counseling services, property damage, lost jobs, a family’s
grief and lost industry to our city are the grim, long-lasting but
unrecognizable effects that elude crime scene photos and 5-second
sound-bites. And you probably can’t truly feel those effects
unless you or a loved is struck by the tragedy of homicide or other
violent crime. In many instances, tragedy seems to strike as indiscriminately
as lightening. I implore you to do whatever is within your power
to work with the Coalition toward reversing the epidemic of black
on black crime, so that lightening doesn’t strike you, your
loved one, co-worker, or neighbor.
You may be asking
yourself, as I once asked myself, "What can I do?" Well,
I’d be happy to answer that question. In its call to action,
the Coalition is soliciting active involvement through volunteerism and monetary contributions. Volunteers
can participate through any of six Coalition workgroups organized to implement the Coalition’s plan.
• Faith
Based Workgroup – Rev. Robert James
• Human Services – Hayes Miler
• Media Workgroup – Patrice Brown
• Neighborhood Association – Dr. George Blevins
• Political Action Workgroup – Tamika Edwards
• Youth Workgroup – Vivian Flowers
Monetary contributions
that will support awareness and intervention initiatives should
be made payable to the Black on Black Crime Coalition and sent to
the Center for Healing Hearts and Spirits at 2416 Chester Street
in Little Rock, Arkansas 72206. For more information or to contact
someone with the Coalition, please call (501) 372-3900. We appreciate
your support and thank you for joining us today. Thank you.
The
Center for Healing Hearts and Spirits is a project of the Women’s
Council on African American, Affairs, Inc. (WCAAA).
Center
for Healing Hearts and Spirits • Joyce
Raynor, Executive Director
2416 South Chester • Little Rock, Arkansas 72206 USA
Phone (501) 372-3800 • Fax (501) 372-2150 • E-mail: hhscenter@sbcglobal.net |
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