In response to the recent string of shootings in New Jersey, activists and city leaders gathered at NJPac in Newark, New Jersey, on Sept. 9 for The Summit II: Redefining Public Safety to initiate new anti-violence plans.
Former football stars Jim Brown and Ray Lewis were key speakers at the event, along with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. An initiative to improve on public safety measures was presented that addressed the root causes of gang violence in urban communities, criminal justice reform, community partnership strategies, and healing alternatives, according to nj.com.
A press release on the event said that its purpose was to “emphasize urban violence as an issue of untreated trauma and allude to grassroots, restorative approaches that have seen success in decreasing gang-related and police perpetrated violence.”
Brown, an NFL Hall-of-Famer and longtime activist, passed the torch of community leadership on to Lewis. Brown is well-known for organizing efforts to decrease violence and promote Black empowerment in urban communities. He co-founded the Black Economic Union in 1966, which gathered athletes and other influential people with the aim of improving Black communities through educational and social initiatives.
“A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same, or reverted back, like the violence by police against Black people, Black-on-Black crime, education,” Brown said when asked how the standing of Black communities has changed since his heyday.
Violence has been rampant in New Jersey in recent months. On June 25, five people were shot on five separate occasions within Union County, resulting in four deaths. On July 5, a 22-year-old randomly shot at people in Easton, Palmer, and Allentown, killing three of the victims. Four people were shot in Newark on the night of Sept. 15.
Brown said he was glad that Mayor Baraka was taking part in the fight to decrease crime and improve at-risk areas.
“He is stepping out and stepping up,” he said of Baraka at a May anti-violence event.
View pictures from the meeting below.
