On the Field, Off the Streets: Resourcing Community Peace in East Bay

Please join Coach Lo of Young Lives Matter, and Rev. Angela of The Family Spirit Center,
for a conversation about a community-supported solution to youth violence in Berkeley
and in the East Bay.

Date and time: Wed, June 8, 2022 @ 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/on-the-field-off-the-streets-resourcing-community-peace-in-berkeley-ca-tickets-354872151157


Many of us are still reeling from recent shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York at the hands of 18-year-old gunmen. And yet...

Gun violence is also on the rise closer to home for us, here in Berkeley, California and across the wider East Bay!

If you are personally concerned about public safety in Berkeley and the East Bay, if you want to know about proven methods to reduce community violence, and if you wish to participate in positive solutions for Berkeley and beyond... we invite you to come have a conversation with community leaders Coach Lo and Rev. Angela about

--Why gang and gun violence are on the rise here and now

--Why Black youth are especially at risk of becoming involved in street violence this Summer 2022;

--What culturally-attuned programs and mentoring look like here, for the population at greatest risk of gun violence

--How you can support a positive, community-based solution

In Berkeley, we are at a critical moment of escalating violence this Summer 2022. There is an urgency in this moment that we will explain more about at this event. We as a wider community in Berkeley and beyond must step forward to make sure that community-based pathways for positive youth engagement are resourced in our city and beyond. If we fail to act on behalf of the youth who are at highest risk of involvement in gun violence, the entire community will pay the price for years to come.

Please join us for an important conversation among friends and neighbors and be part of the solution this Summer!


CONTEXT:

How community violence escalates is not a mystery, nor are the solutions for creating longlasting community peace. Thirty years of youth development research and community change research demonstrate what works and why: public investments in positive relationships, positive programs and relevant opportunities for high-risk youth are the proven strategies for redirecting young people away from violence and toward pathways of peace.

Berkeley as a community has failed our young people by failing, for several decades, to invest resources in the very programs and practices that we know work for the young people who are at greatest risk. Those community leaders among us who have seen the waves of violence building have been long ignored by the City and the Berkeley Unified School District


MEET: Coach Lo

Participants of this community peace talk will get to meet a local hero (Coach Lo Grayson), who has invested the past seven years of his life in building a positive pathway for Black youth in Berkeley and beyond--often against a tide of political opposition. No stranger to street life and gang violence himself, Coach Lo says "I used to be part of the problem, now I build solutions for Black youth... "

Young Lives Matter Foundation is his organization. On the surface, the main activities they provide are football and cheerleading.... but don't be fooled! Jr. Jackets Football and Cheer was created by Coach Lo and his partner Lynn Marie, as well as a circle of African American adults who grew up together in Berkeley, as a vehicle for providing the positive relationships and opportunities that these young people need, while doing what the kids have said they want to do. Jr. Jackets isn’t just about football and cheerleading, but about mentoring, positive culturally-attuned role modeling, group belonging and teamwork, and youth leadership development.


MEET: Rev. Angela

The co-host of this event is Rev. Angela, the Director of an emerging Berkeley-based non-profit called The Family Spirit Center, which exists to help families and communities build connection and belonging into the lives of young people and the adults who are dedicated to their care. Rev. Angela has worked for 30 years on community-based efforts to improve quality of life for children, youth and families. For the past dozen years she has worked as a parent educator in Berkeley, California. Through the Family Spirit Center, she and her community-based partners are educating, organizing, and advocating for a more loving, equitable, and sustainable future for all our community’s children.