#REFORMAliiance Lets Take The Guns Out Our Music

 
         

Philadelphia has a serious gun violence concern that our elected officials are pretending to be concerned about. The proposed brutal 2021-2022 budget clearly shows the concern for ending gun violence being ignored. Typical of Philadelphia city government to work for corporations and developers against us the people. I testified at the recent budget hearing and asked that city government stop their business as usual of ignoring us the people and use The American Rescue Plan to rescue the people. I'm planning to connect with more of us concerned with why violence prevention is not fully funded for 2021-2022 budget items with proven violence reduction models and request a hearing on the use of The American Rescue Plan. "An Ounce of Prevention Is Always Worth a Pound of Cure, Especially in the Time of COVID-19!!"

May 29th 2021 1pm I participated in a walk from olney ave and ogontz to chew ave and sharpnack st; where i currently reside. i stopped outdoor protesting because of covid and people and their different mentalities about public safety during covid. The urgent need to address this crisis sits in my heart. I learned of Oronde McClain Foundation hosting "Take Back Our City Gun Violence Protest" in one of my fb groups. I had missed the first march, opening the post right as the protest was happening. Then saw another protest walk that i could join and reached out to Oronde to share resources. Oronde advocates to stop gun violence because he is a victim of flying bullets. At the age of 10 he was on his way to school when gun fire started spraying the streets. He was hit in the head and laid in his blood dead for 2 minutes. Advocating for healthy brains is another platform of mines, i've never heard of anyone totally recuperating from a gun shoot wound to the head. i had to be there to see the miracle for myself.

   

Before we begin to walk and protest gun violence, we start networking and exchanging information. i'm learning about "10 Men" a program designed by Dream Therapy Specialist James Villarreal M. A. Psychotherapy. Like yesterday was "All A Dream" for me that allowed connections with our spiritual world in the midst of the storm. Mr. Villarreal is telling us about his program when the director of CeaseFire Philly adds that the city already has a model program like what Mr. Villarreal is proposing and that maybe he should join them. i quickly add that the model from Chicago currently only helps 30 people so there is room to add funding for a model that helps 10 more people if violence prevention was fully funded. Problem is our city barely funds the nonprofits, kinda pits them against each other to get funding versus collective partnerships sharing resources. i also mentioned that our state senators have surplus budgets and we can reach out to them for funding as constituents to help address violence prevention. 

We the people will be the change we want to see in Philadelphia, doing a little bit better than our sisters and brothers in Camden whose city government corruption is totally off the chain. We Philadelphians have to come together and hold these corrupt officials accountable for ignoring the American Rescue of the people. Mother Nature is doing her part, i'm told by Mr. Villarreal the dream therapist, that there were no murders in Philadelphia on May, 28th. i said, we need to find out what the factor was that could pause aka vaccinate violence. His reply was the rain storm!! Mother Nature kept hopeless people occupied in the house!! The fact that a rainy day halts murders is more than enough proof that our city needs to fully fund gun violence prevention like yesterday. So in the rain the young drummers began to beat the drums as we chanted "Stop The Violence", "Put The Guns Down", "Turn The Guns In", "Fully Fund Violence Prevention", one of our elders joined in shaking his drum!! #TheSpiritualWorldIsWithUs #gunViolenceIsAMentalHealthConcern

Government funding addresses a small portion of the problem. Community and what we allow in our community is the real solution. i heard a request from the music industry to be the vaccine for gun violence by taking the guns out of our music. So i'm reaching out to #REFORMAlliance to address taking guns out of our music as part of their justice reform platforms. Transformation starts with us!!

I'm connecting with street soldiers who are overwhelmed with concerns in keeping our city safe and productive. Why is Arnett Woodall praised by the media all over the world but gets attacked not funded by the city of Philadelphia? The violence and abuse we street soldiers endure in supporting our communities is a result of gentrified mentalities in city government. Arnett owns West Philly produce and is looked to by so many in the community as the Mayor of West Philly. Hopefully he will become the Mayor of Philadelphia 2023!! He provides support for nonprofits serving young adults but is not able to get any support from our city government supporting those nonprofits. Our city has truly dogged Arnett Woodall accomplishments and continued success. Shame on Philadelphia government.<br><br>

Sister Teleah Taylor founder of "The City of Dreams Coalition" often post of us coming together to help our vulnerable families. Her focus is on our young people and the broken homes they live in. i finally got a minute to call her and we were not able to connect because she was drowning in urgent concerns about our youth safety. She also gets media coverage and little to no support from the city.

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i'm working to see if connections can be made among Oronde McClain Foundation, West Philly Produce and The City of Dreams Coalition because we share the same concerns with different parts of the issue. im putting together a social justice data mapping initiative to help tell our stories because policies are always created and imposed on us without us being at the policy creation tables. we are exploring who we are in our society, how we came to be and what would we like to be. Thanks to covid so many are taking this look at themselves and unmasking what is not wanted. this social justice data mapping initiative is a healing platform addressing the concerns and lack of supports killing our communities. we will explore the experimental society we live in by viewing "Coded Bias" and then do our part to add our stories to the datasets void of our realities. https://www.wmm.com/coded-bias-host-a-screening/thank-you-for-signing-up/ https://www.ajl.org/

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we will also explore what life looks like when we are at the table in virtual reality by joining the Mars Stem Challenge https://marssteamchallenge.org/ and right now reality by joining or following if some don't want to join "Lets Buy A Town"

Lets Buy A Town I want this group to be a path for empowering our people. To encourage wealth-building for the African American People from North-South and East-West. There are opportunities available that could allow us to purchase and reestablish one or more towns. Collectively/Cooperatively we can invest and re-establish the municipal government. If you are interested please click on the Link and complete the survey. I will ask for a $5 donation to begin work on the process at a later time and we will eventually establish a $500 pledge opportunity that can be made in payments to make the actual purchases. If 1 mil people donate $500 you can see how fast this can be accomplished. The towns range from $200k - up to $5 mil (most are $1-2 mil dollars. 

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i also joined emontoring with CLICKS 

CLICKS, or CLEO Legally Inspired College Kohort of Students, is a law-related mentoring program that promotes academic success, and college and career readiness. Its goal is to increase adolescents’ knowledge of the impact the law has on their everyday lives. We empower underserved youth to see beyond their current circumstances through consistent, healthy interactions with caring, compassionate adults.

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Finding ways to support our youth development is important. i was happy to learn about 4-H BabySitting Club for Youth and other great programs empowering our youth with basic skills to add to their life skills toolbelts. 

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Adults need support also, so many were neglected and robbed of quality education and life skills to help them be productive. There's a huge void in support for adults that im working to fill. In Philadelphia we have Healthy Minds Philly offering intergenerational support. The Department of Behavioral Health also offers  Parent Cafes in various locations. (215) P-A-R-E-N-T-S

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 #WeHaveToBeVestedInUs    #GetVestedInUs    #Vested    #ForUsByUs    #StopTheViolence #PaVoterCourtWatch     #hov1and2stronger     #redhenexploring2021

Wednesday May 26th Take Action: "Ask Philadelphia To Stop Inflicting Violence On The Budget" #PeopleBailout

What's killing Philadelphians more than anything is the politcains pretending to care about our city. Our city like cities across the nation are being bailed out under the Biden Adminstration. Yet Philadelphia politics has decided not to address the current state of emergency with the bailout money. Instead our city decided to extend the money over a five year period. Why is that alarming to me?

Im a family community advocate because i know that families who work together are happier and have shared purpose. i know that we live in community that includes diversity that is often stigmatized for one reason or the other. i know that our families are vulnerable because our city is neglectful to some and supportive of others. if you don't have skin in the game then you are not included aka pay to play politics is killing Philadelphia families and communities.

Covid19 shutdowns demonstrates just how neglectful Philadelphia is towards vulnerable residents. Our schools were closed and have been struggling to reopen because of decade old neglected safety concerns. Community partners stepped up to provide learning hubs because the district was not able to support safe learning spaces??????? Some of the community partners had no prior training to address the crisis and those who may have had training didn't have the staff to support the need. i was on a zoom with parents and educators sharing how some educators were able to adapt to teaching online. What was noted on this zoom was the difference between how districts equipped and supported the families and staff.

The Biden Administration created the American Rescue plan to help our country bounce back from the shutdowns that crippled so much. The money fills gaps that were missing before covid shutdowns and if invested in the people would really stop the rise in hate and violence. Why is Philadelphia politicans deciding to hold on to the bailout money versus bailing the people out? We hear of hate and gun violence daily. We are in a state of emergency from the hate and gun violence crisis while our city puts funding away for their long term investments. Instead of being invested in our communities for the long term. Our city will continue the violence by not putting much needed funding into vioelnce prevention models that have proven track records. Shame on Philadelphia city council for being so careless.

INCREASE FUNDING FOR STREET OUTREACH PROGRAMS Programs like Cure Violence employ trusted community members to mediate conflicts, mentor young people, and much more. These outreach approaches have been successful across the country and are already working in Philadelphia. While total gun violence has increased steadily since 2014, areas in Philadelphia with the Cure Violence program have seen 30% reductions in shootings. With more funding these programs can expand and further reduce gun violence in our communities.

The Community Crisis Intervention Program is one of the main street outreach programs run by the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network (PAAN). This program relies on credible messengers, but they are understaffed and under resourced by the city government.

EXPAND THE READI CHICAGO PILOT The Rapid Employment and Development Initiative (READI) works with young people who are highly at-risk for gun violence involvement and connects them to cognitive behavioral therapy, paid transitional jobs, and support services. The READI Chicago model saw early success of 40% reduction in shooting and homicide involvement for men involved in the program. Mayor Kenney’s current proposal only has $2.3 million for a READI pilot, which means many highly at-risk people won’t be able to participate in this transformative program. We need a significant investment in this program in the budget.

PROVIDE MORE FUNDING TO COMMUNITY ANTI-VIOLENCE INITIATIVES ON THE GROUND Last year the Mayor’s budget included $2.1 million for the targeted community investment grants (TCIGs) yet only approved 1 in 10 proposals and capped grants at $20,000. This means that programs cannot receive enough money to expand and many programs are not getting any funding In a survey this year, 88% of participants in the funded projects said that the programs made them feel safe in their communities, 96% of participants and 85% of grantees felt that TCIG gave them an opportunity to build more trusting relationships with neighbors and community members, 98% of participants would like to see more programs like this one, and 83% of grantees would lead future projects like this one. Despite the overwhelming popularity of this program, Mayor Kenney is only increasing funding for this year by $500,000. These community programs build trust, make people feel safe, and communities impacted want more funding. We need to significantly increase funding for these community programs. This investment is also based in science. Simply having 10 community organizations focused on public health solutions to violence can reduce murders by 9% and violent crime by 6%.

INCREASE FUNDING FOR PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT Parks and Recreation budget was cut by $13 million (20% budget cut) in last year’s budget and the new proposed budget doesn’t even restore the budget to 2020 levels. Even before last years budget, our Parks and Recreation Department needed much more funding. Philadelphia ranks 78th in park maintenance and 46th when it comes to programming per capita for the 100 most populous cities in the country. During the pandemic use of green spaces has more than doubled and we need a Parks budget that reflects the increased demand on city facilities and programs for young people This summer, the city government will give more money to the police department to guard parks and recreation centers without an increase to actually supporting the programs and staffing for recreation centers and dilapidated parks. This is horrible partnering because the there is no partnership with corrupt police, trust in the police is at an all time low.


The real solution to gun violence in our communities in not more police. We need to make parks and recreation centers safe havens for young people. We need more funding for programming, staff, and community liaisons who can make sure parks and recreation centers remain safe. The Waterloo park can serve as an example of hiring credible messengers or partnering community groups to make parks and recreation centers safe havens and to build community buy-in and ownership of parks. That is a long-term solution to make parks and communities safe.

CREATE A FULLY FUNDED AND INDEPENDENT CRISIS RESPONSE PROGRAM Mayor Kenney’s proposal for a co-responder program— which sends one police officer and one mental health professional to respond to mental health crises— is an improvement over sending only police, but years behind what many other cities are doing. The goal should be to remove police from mental health calls and only send mental health professionals. Currently, 2700 Philadelphia police officers have received the Crisis Intervention Team training needed to be a co-responder for mental health calls. The CIT training is only 40 hours, but that training is insufficient compared to the mental health professionals who have hundreds of hours of experience and training. Having police on the scene will also naturally escalate a situation. National leaders in CIT Training have acknowledged that “Every time a police officer goes out to a crisis situation, it’s going to escalate the person’s emotional state…their mere presence is stressful, and the person in crisis can become fearful and enter flight or fight.” The right answer is to remove police from the equation unless mental health professionals determine they need police back-up. Denver recently replaced its co-responder program with the Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) program, which removed police from the response. In 6 months, STAR has responded to roughly 1,400 calls and did not require police back-up once. It’s a waste of resources to send police on every call, but that is exactly what Mayor Kenney’s co-responder proposal does.

INCREASE FUNDING FOR TRAUMA VICTIM SERVICES Programs like the Every Murder is Real (EMIR) Healing Center help support families dealing with trauma related to gun violence. By providing counseling, therapy, case management, and wrap around services, these programs start to heal untreated trauma that can often lead to further cycles of violence Network of Neighbors is another community program funded by Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health. The network is made up of trained community members who facilitate meetings and group discussions to help reduce stress and bolster peer connection and healthy coping at the community level. This program only received $282,500 in FY 2020. Much more funding could help train more Trauma Responders in neighborhoods that experience high levels of gun violence related trauma.

ACTION STEPS

SIGN UP TO SPEAK AT THESE BUDGET HEARINGS

City Council Members take these budget hearings seriously and we should too. We want everyone committed to our budget priorities to sign up to attend as many budget hearings as possible. We do encourage that only people in the Greater Philly area sign up for budget hearings.

To speak at a budget hearing you should call 215-686-3407 or email Budget.Hearings@phila.gov prior to the public testimony session you want to attend and submit the following information:

Full name

Callback telephone number where you can be reached
Identify the bill number or resolution number or numbers that will be addressed. (210322 for the budget)
Upcoming Meetings:
Public Testimony May 26, 3:00 pm
SIGN THE GRASSROOTS LAW PROJECT PETITION
We are using a smart petition that sends an email to every city council member when you sign the petition to let them know that another Philly area resident is calling on them to prioritize gun violence prevention in this year’s budget.

Probation and Parole Is Changing In Our Country Thanks To REFORM #REFORMAlliance

    Big things are happening with REFORM Alliance and their quest to address and correct the inequities of Probation and Parole in our country!! Glad to be part of REFORM and pushing these conversations to end the dehumanizing practice of probation and parole in our country. Honestly, the passing of SB105 in Georgia is major.  REFORM and the efforts of the coalition in taking those structural racist grips off so many equals freedom for those trapped by probation and parole, who thought they could never be free of the injustice. 

There's plenty of work to be done in changing probation and parole in our country. Meek Mills is from Pennsylvania and boy were they pissed when he won his freedom. Every legislator that could block probation and parole reform has done so. The corrupt judge in his case is also still on the bench. So what does this mean for justice reform in Pennsyltucky and other stubborn states? 

Probation and parole reform really needs total transformation.  A national town hall held several times a year to bring more people into this conversation could also support probation reform. More than anything we have to pay attention and get involved in these elections. Attitudes are shifting from a careless society to a more collective mutual aid society. Our social justice campaign to defund the police was part of the Presidental campaign talked about by both parties. Trust in the police is at an all-time low. States, where probation and parole is heavily practiced, are said to be more dangerous because there are not enough probation and parole officers to oversee the most violent offenders. 

Please get involved and help end this injustice on vulnerable people. Probation and parole create stigmas that block people from freedom. Many companies are suffering employment shortages thanks to criminal justice stigmas. i had a conversation with a food truck owner, whose business is booming. He works double overtime because students on f1 visas are not available and his perception of returning citizens was not good. So many job openings throughout our country that are in desperate need of good employees are on crutches because of their stigma with returning citizens. There was a campaign to ban the box as a way to give returning citizens an interview that most were denied when checking the box of past criminal history. Employers like ShopRite have had great success in retaining employment with returning citizens through the nonprofit Uplift Solutions. These successes need to be shared widely with employers and legislators, please contact your business associations, chambers of commerce and legislature today and ask them to support second chance legislation.

Resisting The Breaking From Colonialism

 The recent shutdown in our country is opening conversations about attitude shifts on how systems were designed and created the color lines that profit off of the divide and conquer careless mentality. In Philadelphia, we have a heated election for the District Attorney's position. Our current D. A. fired his opponent as part of his transformation from the corrupt Philadelphia district attorney's office to a transparent and accountable district attorney office. Our current D. A. has always been a human rights advocate, who pro-bono for other human rights advocates and holds police accountable. His opponent is backed by Rizzo mentality racist FOP who lives to promote fear by any means necessary. The history in the making is how these social justice attitudes are surfacing like never before. Structural Racism is the concern most are talking around. 

What does the removal of hate symbols mean to all of us in shifting attitudes in our country? Are we entering another Reconstruction Era? Can we move forward into a Transformation Era where we unmask who we are and what we would like to be? On the ballot in various states are attitudes towards social changes in our society that some are not willing to accept. The removal of symbols of hate are coming down, much like the conversation on defunding the police is calming down as trust in police is at an all-time low. In Pennsylvania, the power of the governor to act in emergency for all is on the ballot. 

#TruthBeTold Campaign 

On Tuesday, over objections from business and education groups, the Texas House voted to pass a bill “that supporters describe as an effort to keep ‘critical race theory’ from being taught in schools.” Within the last week, the Governor of Oklahoma signed into law House Bill 1775, which restricts the teaching of racism and sexism across Oklahoma’s state universities and public school system. In Tennessee, the General Assembly passed a bill that prohibits discussion of racial or gender-based privilege in public schools and any teaching that “Americans are not created equal.” A late amendment to the Tennessee bill prohibits any teaching that “the rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups.”     Join the movement at www.aapf.org 

There will always be some resistance to settled ways. The healing process for our country is taking part with the call from organizations to collaborate and build coalitions with like minds and our opposition. We are unmasking ugly truths of our society that a small fraction doesn't want to address for various reasons. Some corporations have been changing their models to be more socially responsible with implicit bias training.  The question is do the implicit bias training work to create the shift in attitude from the ugly truths of our society. We all should be at the table to conversate and learn about our diversity and similarities. Models like http://theopenorganization.org/ are growing because our world is transforming into 21st-century technology, like blockchains that are not dependent on systems. 

Resistance is part of the change, how we address the resistance is key.