Black Women for Positive Change & Positive Change Foundation 1220 L
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800 High School Students in the Penn Hills School District, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Led a Peace March and Chanted the Peace Pledge 2 2019 WEEK OF POSITIVE CHANGE, NON-VIOLENCE AND OPPORTUNITIES REPORT Black Women for Positive Change & Positive Change Foundation 1220 L. Street, NW # 100-181, Washington, D.C. 20005 Blackwomenforpositivechange.org FB: Blackwomenforpositivechange 3 Table of Contents Message from Black Women for Positive Change 5 Sponsors and Partners 6-8 Honorary Co-Chairs & Leadership Team 9-15 Peace Pledge 16 Endorsements from Elected Officials 17-23 Media Coverage 24-38 Faith Leaders Outreach 38-40 Social Media Coordination 41-42 2019 Global and U.S. City Activities 43-77 United Kingdom 44-46 Alabama 47-50 Arizona 51-54 District of Columbia 55-61 Maryland 62-64 Ohio 65-67 Pennsylvania 68-73 Virginia 74-77 Officers and Members: Black Women for Positive Change 78-83 Positive Change Foundation 84 4 Black Women for Positive Change In Affiliation with Positive Change Foundation Dear Week of Positive Change, Non-Violence & Opportunities Supporters, This report is about the 8th Annual Week of Positive Change, Non-Violence and Opportunities, October 12-21, 2019. Black Women for Positive Change and Good Brothers launched this effort to promote violence prevention; improved relations between Law Enforcement and communities of color; strengthen youth leadership and to build stronger multi- cultural and inter-faith networks. Sadly, the crisis of violence seems to be increasing. Daily we hear reports of violence in families, communities, among racial and ethnic groups, in law enforcement, in gangs and among individuals with access to guns, who commit mass shootings. This must stop! We must mobilize local, state and federal officials to make changes. In 2019, we are proud that several thousand people attended non-violence events in Alabama, Arizona, District of Columbia, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the United Kingdom. We thank the global network of women and Good Brothers who collaborated to “Change the Culture of Violence in America, and the World.” As you read this report, please share your ideas about how we can expand this effort to de-escalate violence, control anger, eliminate racism, and find safe ways to end implicit bias. We hope you will support this initiative by donating to the Positive Change Foundation. A 501-C-3 non-profit organization, you can link to at: www.blackwomenforpositivechange.org Contact us at [email protected] Sincerely, Stephanie E. Myers Daun S. Hester Dr. Stephanie E. Myers Honorable Daun S. Hester National Co-Chair, BWFPC National Co-Chair, BWFPC President, Positive Change Foundation Board Chair, Positive Change Foundation 5 THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! TRUSTED, INC. Michael Peters, CEO, Trusted Inc. and CEO Co-Chair, Positive Change Foundation, CEO Council Martha Dawson, DNP, RN, CNS, FACHE, NBNA President SAINT AND STREETFIGHTER FOUNDATION In Memory of Patty Johnson, Emeritus Member, Black Women for Positive Change 6 HUBBARD FAMILY FOUNDATION Office of Community Engagement Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, PA Allegheny Unitarian Universalist Church, Pittsburgh, PA 7 THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS AEDC led by Stan Jackson, CEO of Anacostia Economic Development Corporation and Co-Chair, Positive Change Foundation, CEO Council. Alliance of Concerned Men, INC The authority for youth violence intervention for over 27 years. Jim Vance Media Scholars Archbishop Carroll High School 8 Leadership TeaM Working To Change The Culture of VioLenCe in AmeriCa, and The WorLd 9 HONORARY CHAIRS, VICE CHAIRS AND CO-CHAIRS Eric H. Holder Jr., Esq. Eric H. Holder Jr. 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015. He is the first African American to serve as Attorney General. National Honorary Vice Chair Congresswoman Maxine Waters Congresswoman Maxine Waters is the U.S. Representative for Compton, California, since 1990. Congresswoman Waters made history as the first woman and first African American Chair of the House Financial Services Committee. 10 National Honorary Vice Chair Congresswoman Gwen Moore Congresswoman Gwendolynne S. Moore is the U.S. Representative for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 2005. In 2016, Rep. Moore was elected to serve as Caucus Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus. Congresswoman Moore is the author of H.R. 2457, the National De-Escalation of Violence and Community Safety Training Act of 2019. To help train individuals in effective and evidence-based de-escalation techniques to ensure that individuals at diverse levels of society have and retain greater skills to resolve conflicts, manage anger, and control implicit bias without the use of physical or other force, and for other purposes. Link to Proposed Legislation: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr2457/text 11 Honorary Co-Chairs Michelle Bernard, Esq. , MSNBC, Bernard Center Kemba Smith Pradia, Criminal Justice Advocate Dr. Charles Steele, CEO, Eric J. Williams, DNP, RN, CNE, Southern Christian FAAN, Chairman Emeritus, Leadership Conference National Black Nurses Association 12 2019 Week of Positive Change, Non-Violence & Opportunities City Co-Chairs Carthenia Jefferson, Esq, Chair Birmingham, Alabama La Tanya Mathis, Chair Phoenix, Arizona Diane Mitchell Henry, Chair Los Angeles, California Barbara Bundage, RN, Co-Chair Los Angeles, California Dawn Williams, Esq, Co-Chair Good Brother Marcus Hughes, Co-Chair District of Columbia, Maryland and District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia Virginia and Co-Chair, Millennial and Co-Chair Millennial Committee Committee 13 Good Brother Frank Malone Co-Chair, District of Columbia, Danyelle Smith, Chair Maryland and Virginia Baltimore, Maryland Dr. Crystal Francis, Co-Chair Baltimore, Maryland Katrina Coleman, Co-Chair Baltimore, Maryland Dr. Daisy Harmon-Allen, Chair Fannie Allen, Chair Alexandria, Virginia Maymont and Chicago, Illinois 14 Diane Powell, Chair Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Alicia Ward, Co-Chair Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Zhanna, Co-Chair London, United Kingdom 15 NON-VIOLENCE PEACE PLEDGE The Peace Pledge was Written by Members of Black Women for Positive Change in Collaboration with a Committee of Youth, in Chicago, Illinois. It is an Intergenerational Pledge that Youth and Adults are Encouraged to Sign, Repeat and Post Up in theIr Homes. 16 ENDORSEMENTS FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS 17 CONGRESSWOMAN MAXINE WATERS 18 GOVERNOR GRETCHER WHITMER, MICHIGAN 19 GOVERNOR TONY EVERS, WISCONSIN 20 GOVERNOR RALPH NORTHUM, VIRGINIA 21 JOHN A. OLSZEWSKI, COUNTY EXECUTIVE, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND 22 GOVERNOR JARED POLIS, COLORADO 23 MEDIA COVERAGE 24 Anti-Violence Agenda Draws Black Women Together For Change December 6th, 2019 By Rosaland Tyler, Associate Editor, New Journal and Guide Black Women for Positive Change held its eighth annual Violence Prevention Week in 40 cities throughout the U.S. in mid-October and will sponsor more events in 2020. But what will the 11-year-old organization do for an encore since its recent anti-violence program included a peace walk in Pittsburgh that attracted over 800 high school students? In Washington, D.C, hundreds turned out for the “Violence is not Normal” town hall meeting on Oct. 19 at the RISE Demonstration Center. “We will continue to concentrate on changing the culture of violence and focus on how to increase economic opportunities so that young people understand that they can make other choices about violence,” said Daun Hester, a national co-chair of Black Women for Positive Change, and a Norfolk, Va., resident. “We will also work with Norfolk Police Chief Larry D. Boone as it relates to youth violence,” said Hester, referring to the anti-violence committee Boone announced plans to form in August after 10 people were shot and five killed, one in a stabbing, in a one-week span. “The police chief is concerned,” Hester said. “Young people need more opportunities. Instead of complaining, I want to put a job application in their hands so that they will learn the advantage of responsibility. I also want to stress respect what it really is, and how you can use respect to control your response (in a potentially violent situation). When we do our conference call, we will talk more about what we want to do next year,” Hester explained. 25 “During the course of the year I also plan to talk to students and ask them to take the Peace Pledge because bullying is a big problem in the community,” said Hester, who joined the organization in 2011 – (after the multi-ethnic organization which has female and male members – changed its name from Black Women for Obama to Black Women for Positive Change three years after it was launched in 2008). Many of the organization’s members are local community leaders like Hester. She made history as the first African American woman elected to Norfolk City Council, where she served from 1996-2010, and was vice mayor from 2004-2008. She was a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates, having won a special election on Dec. 18, 2012, in the 89th district in Norfolk. In 2010, Hester unsuccessfully ran for mayor against the incumbent, Paul D. Fraim. In November 2017, she was elected Norfolk treasurer after winning 54 percent of the vote. She worked for Norfolk Public Schools for 22 years. In other words, Hester’s high profile brings the non-profit’s “couple of hundred members nationwide” sharply into focus. Some of its members are pictured on its website including Charlene Butts Ligon, who wrote the book, “Fearless” about her mother Evelyn Butts, a local civic organizer. Ligon is a Norfolk native, a retired Air Force master sergeant, and lives in Bellevue, Neb., with her husband Robert. The website also includes a photo of Dr. Amelia Ross-Hammond, a retired Norfolk State University professor who served on Virginia Beach City Council from 2012-2016. She is also the founder and chairman of the African American Cultural Center of Virginia Beach. Black Women for Positive Change has two goals, said co-chair Dr.