About The Project
Dear Readers,
Right now our community is suffering an urgent crisis- the murder and criminalization of our children- it has ricocheted to nearly every corner of the village; fueled by blood, inconsiderate of its destruction…showing no sign of slowing down.
Throughout 2009 I began to use the Sable Verity blog to raise awareness about youth violence and its impact. Mainstream media constantly fails to portray those who have been murdered in a holistic manner, but instead, exacerbate stereotypes and generalities which diminish their young lives in a very real way. Too many people shrug off the deaths of young Black men and women as inevitable or even deserved, based on the media portrayal of the victims lifestyles- factual or not.
What we know as concerned community members, as outreach workers, volunteers, parents, aunts and uncles, coaches, teachers, neighbors and mentors, is that these kids were each special, each talented, each loved. None deserved to die. None should be forgotten.
While I took a lot of time last year to write about youth violence, it wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with all of the shootings, criminal investigations, judicial processes, and tell the stories of all of those we’ve lost.
Young Guns, Stolen Lives (aka The 2010 Project) will be hosted on the Sable Verity Blog through December. It will cover violent crimes impacting our youth/community, and the investigative and judicial processes while also giving tribute to the lives of those taken.
It seems we all know someone who has lost someone- because we are all connected, all impacted. The lives of the deceased are never found in court documents or daily newspapers; they are in the community- in former teachers and coaches, neighbors and playmates, siblings and parents- in you and in me.
Young Guns, Stolen Lives will follow and inform the community on legislation, policies and programs created by grassroots efforts or elected officials on the city, county and state level which impact the safety and well-being of our communities and our children, such as Mayor McGinn’s new safe communities initiative, The Aaron Sullivan Assault Weapons Ban, and State cuts to the Department of Corrections (which ended community supervision for 10,000 offenders) as examples.
This is the goal for 2010. I need your help to make it happen.
A project of this kind has never been undertaken before- It will require hours of research to present the facts truthfully. While I bring tremendous passion for this project, I need your help to bring it to fruition.
You trust The Sable Verity to bring you the truth and shed a light on issues impacting our communities. Please support this work with a contribution.
Together, we can bring this bloodshed to an end, but in order to confront the truth, we need to know the truth. Thank you for joining me to bring these stories to light.
Warmest Regards,
Sable Verity
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