houstoncrimecoalition.org

This is a Houston Crime Coalition Project and Initiative that has been in the works for 1 year and 6 months. Thanks to all who made it possible. Its just the beginning.

BY DANIEL P. TUCKER
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Sunday, March 28th 2010, 4:00 AM

Hiop-hop icon Russell Simmons joined leaders of a grass-roots movement in Brooklyn and Queens Saturday to kick off a “peacekeeping” campaign in some of the city’s toughest neighborhoods.

The Peace Keepers Movement, which started in Houston, tries to stop violence and crime by encouraging a strong presence of men from the community in unstable neighborhoods.

“For me, this is significant because I grew up here,” Simmons said at a rally in Queens Village.

“Not too far from here, I sold drugs,” he said. “I’ve had to change, and I’ve had leaders show me the way.”

Peace Keepers founder Dennis Muhammad says crime in the community can’t be solved with “an influx of police and more prisons.”

“We believe that men must be the role models for young men who kill each other senselessly,” he said at a separate rally in Brownsville.

Shawn Livingston, 23, who lives in Brownsville, agreed. “To me, it’s a positive thing,” he said.

The number of murders was up about 23% citywide during the first 11 weeks of the year compared to the same period in 2009.

Murders spiked about 15% in Brooklyn and about 29% in Queens.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/03/28/2010-03-28_hiphop_mogul_launches_peacekeeping_mission.html#ixzz0jg9DKSyp

On March 3, 2010, St. Julien Communications Group, Council Member Jarvis Johnson, Council Member Jolanda Jones, Congressman Al Green’s Office, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s Office, Houston Area Urban League, Houston Works, Professional Sales Institute of Houston, and Restoration Assistance Program, Professional Sales Institute of Houston, Restoration Assistance Program, and Houston Crime Coalition/CCM (Community Change Movement) a 501© (3) nonprofit organization will present Road To Re-entry Employment Fair at United Way of Greater Houston located on 50 Waugh Drive, Houston, Texas 77007 starting at 1:00pm.   It will be an inspiring and unique community effort planned, produced, and promoted in partnership with a simple focus — to match highly qualified formerly convicted felons with private-for-profit employers, train formerly convicted felons on culture sensitivity in the work place, and teach them job placement skills.

There are many key benefits that an employment fair of this focus will have:

• Employers benefit from incentive programs by the federal government when hiring someone with a criminal record.
• The Federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) provides a tax credit for employers that hire formerly convicted felons.
• The state of Texas can beginning to unload prisons and add taxpayers to the system instead of spending taxpayer’s money on welfare abuse, increased police, etc.
• Small business will increase profits by hiring formerly convicted felons through improving productivity, cutting costs, and reducing turnover.
• It will benefit formerly convicted felons by providing a supportive workplace, and by creating happier employees who are learning honesty, responsibility, and integrity.
• A formerly convicted felons who is able to support him or her self legally is less likely to commit crimes to get money and will have a greater sense of self respect, will be a better family role model, will have more control over his/her destiny, and will have a sense of accomplishment.

This event will touch so many lives in a truly impact-full manner!!

T.I. and the K.I.N.G. Foundation are partnering with the Political Swagger, ATONE Peace Keepers and Houston Crime Coalition in a call to service to engage elected officials, community organizers, Hip Hop artists, and every American citizen to accept responsibility to build safer communities.

In an effort to take guns off the streets of Houston, the Grammy award winner, T.I. and his, K.I.N.G. Foundation are hosting the Responsibility Is A Lifestyle: Give Back Your Gun Day on Saturday, March 14, 2009. Anyone with an unregistered weapon will be allowed to drop it off without penalty at Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 3015 North MacGregor Way, beginning at 11am; then join T.I. for a community rally at Texas Southern University.

According to a recent study released by Northeastern University, between 2002 and 2007, the number of black male juveniles murdered nationally increased by 31 percent and the number of black perpetrators by 43 percent. The increases were even greater, the report said, when guns were used as weapons.

Focusing on the period between 2000-01 and 2006-07, the study found Houston at the top of a list of 28 U.S. cities, with a 139 percent increase in the number of young African-Americans suspected in killings. (*Houston Chronicle)

“Instead of walking with guns, I now have to walk with God”, says T.I. The Responsibility Is A Lifestyle: Give Back Your Gun Day is being organized by the Political Swagger Foundation and The CHANGE Initiative with T.I.’s K.I.N.G. Foundation.

“Every era of great change has had its music and the artists have always been at the forefront of that change; from John Lennon to Marvin Gaye. Today, T.I. is using his influence to affect change and we’re excited to join him. The responsibility is on us,” said Tonja Styles, Founder of The Political Swagger Foundation.

Co-Founder of the CHANGE Initiative and recording artist, Radiant Amar, learned first hand of the impact of gun violence; when he was involved in a shoot-out at age 14. He spent nearly two years in the Houston Juvenile Detention Center and the Texas Youth Commission because of his crime. “When you pick up a gun all roads lead to an end. When you put it down, that will prove to be your best beginning,” said Radiant.

Other community partners include Texas Southern University, Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church, Radio-One 97.9 The Box, Houston Police Department, Councilmember Jarvis Johnson, Jahaanah Productions, Mobile Regime, Houston NAACP, Millions More Movement Ministry of Justice, Stop the Killing Movement, ATONE: Peace Keepers, Prince Complex: Don’t Let This Happen To You Movement, OG-1 Youth Outreach Program, MEAD Group and many more.

ABOUT THE K.I.N.G. FOUNDATION:
The mission of Grand Hustle’s K.I.N.G. (Kids In Need of Giving) Foundation is to provide support to low-income families with emphasis on basic needs for children and family support programs that provide services to struggling youth and families through out the world.

The organization was established to serve youth that face an uncertain future through positive intervention, community and family support. The K.I.N.G. Foundation is developing specific programs with focus on youth mentoring and intervention, community outreach and scholastic enrichment.

http://www.thekingfoundation.com

ABOUT THE POLITICAL SWAGGER FOUNDATION:
The Political Swagger Foundation seeks to harness the growing political savvy of the hip hop generation to serve as a catalyst for change. Political Swagger is dedicated to the empowerment and development of the new youth voter bloc through education, mentorship and civic engagement. The foundation also encourages “responsibility” as a “lifestyle” socially, politically and economically among today’s youth.

http://www.politicalswagger.com

ABOUT THE C.H.A.N.G.E. INITIATIVE:
The C.H.A.N.G.E. Initiative seeks to encourage people, regardless of their age, race, class or creed, to become agents of positive social change.

The acronym “C.H.A.N.G.E.” is more than a cliché; it is a way of life and thought pattern for future-focused young people.”

I AM Change; Human Rights; Action; Needed; Global; Empowering, Evolving

http://www.inspiredbychange.com

Click Here to see the Stop The Killing Summit Photo Gallery Slideshow

Please click here to see the gallery on NewsWireHouston.com from last nights summit meeting at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church.

More than 30 community organizations, city officials, community activists, civil rights leaders, mental health experts, police officers and other officials will address the violence that is ripping the neighborhood apart.

Among those who have agreed to participate are Quanell X, Pastor CL Jackson, Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, Houston Crime Coalition, Fifth Ward Growth and Redevelopment, Council member Jarvis Johnson and various hop hop artist, former gang members, victims of violence, and families of victims of violence.
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Legendary Hip-Hop Icon KRS-ONE’s Stop The Violence Movement Organization, The North Houston Frontiers Club, and its partners held a press conference at the Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau at City Hall to announce the re-launching of the Stop The Violence Movement (STVM) National Lectures and Performance Series 20th Anniversary which will start at the North Houston Frontiers Club’s 21st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Breakfast on Monday, January 19, 2009 at 8:15AM where KRS-One will be the Keynote Speaker. The STVM Series is an initiative to reverse the epidemic of black on black crime, and a call to the City of Houston for action.
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Houston Community College Northeast sponsored Hip Hop great KRS-One’s Stop the Violence Movement which was hosted at North Forest High School (NFHS). On this past week of January 19, 2009, the Stop The Violence Movement entertained and enlightened students, faculty, and the general public with a unique brand of lectures and performances of which North Forest High School was enthused to participate in. The lecture took place on Friday afternoon, January 23, 2009, from 1 – 3 pm at the North Forest High School Auditorium. Admission was free for the full NFHS student body and their parents. It seated over 1200 students.
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