Here's a piece that I'm posting at the request on Michael Ali. I believe a lot of these feelings are shared by many of us:
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EDITORIAL TO THE 'RICHMOND TRUTH TASER'
'A VETERAN THAT REFUSES TO GIVE UP HIS VISION OF PEACE IN THE KILLING FIELDS OF RICHMOND' by Micheal Ali
Many people in Richmond say I am a veteran Community Activist, and they are totally correct! I have had two tours of Peace on the Streets, the first back in 1994 to 1995 with the 'Stop the Gang Violence Moratorium' in which we negotitated a peace treaty with all of the gang sets of Richmond and West County.
The second tour has been with the 'Committe of Families For the Safety of Our Children' from 2003 to present; partnering with the Richmond Improvement Association.
In May of 2005, I lost a family member in a double-homicide, where she was used as a human shield in the killing fields of Richmond. As of this writing her killers have not be arrested and brought to justice. All we men and women in the Violence Prevention Movement are well-seasoned professionals and veterans in the killing fields of Richmond. My story is but one in hundreds of stories that Movement people can share with you!
My convictions to bringing an end to the bloodshed, the carnage, the killing and violence, is more stronger now than it has ever been.
As you know there are boycott sanctions being placed on the Mayor's office for the proposed or so-called 'Office of Violence Prevention' and the City Council for supporting it. Most of the true Violence Prevention Movement are boycotting all Council meetings, until they do a buy-in with the Movement. The Movement has never been invited to the bargaining table as equal partners or stakeholders in order to help the City of Richmond formulate real policies about violence prevention!
We the real Violence Prevention Movement in the City of Richmond, could help develop and implement real policies that could contain and reduce both violence and killing with our youth and young adults.
The real reason the Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) is happening for because it is an election year here in Richmond. The proposed OVP is about political power and money to run it. There will be a Czar of Violence Prevention to head it. The City will hire numerous consultants and City executives that will cost the taxpayers of Richmond, hundred of thousands of dollars and in the coming years, millions of dollars to formlate policies about violence prevention. The City Government wants to have the sole monopoly on the violence prevention game. When it comes to the real violence prevention Movement, the City will use any form of POLITICAL REPRESSION, to censor us, to discredit us, to banish and shun us, to try to divide the Movement with political favors and money to BUY our silence and turn against our Movement people!
Why? It's all about power and money, and that's all it will ever be about. The taxpayer's money being flushed down the rat's hole in the name of the violence prevention hustle! The 'Pimps for Youth' and the consultants will implement policies that will cost both the taxpayers and the City Government of Richmond millions upon millions of dollars to formulate policies about violence prevention!
Policies that are both designed to fail and will not meet the challenges of the issues of why our youth and young adults are killing one another!
Violence prevention policies is worth at least 'SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS' over the next 5 years to OVP according to some experts in the violence prevention Movement. To have Movement people come on board, would mean the truth would expose all of the lies and cover-ups of OVP's so-called sucess story on their 'war on violence' The Movement would expose the abuse and misuse of public taxpayers monies rating in the millions of dollars, fighting a war that they have NO INTENTION OF WINNING much less developing or implementing policies that will contain or reduce the real issues of why our youth and young adults are killing one another!
The real Violence Prevention Movement teaches THE VALUES OF PEACE , not making profit with violence prevention, and using victims and their families as the scapegoats in this mess! Not in our names, hell no! This community must learn that time is running out and the long hot summer will be here soon! The politicans in the election year cycle, will profess to the voters and taxpayers that are now 'self-proclaimed experts' in the arena of violence prevention!
For now at least, the Movement is going to just sit back and boycott the Mayor and the City Council meetings and watch the OVP blow up in their faces during this election year! Meanwhile the Movement will still go on about their business of trying to stop the violence and death in the mean killing fields of Richmond. The only vision the Movement knows is the killing MUST stop and stop NOW!
