Big turnout for this mornings Save Our Sons (SOS) Summit at the Civic Coliseum Ballroom - more than 180 elected officials, community leaders, educators and youth-serving non-profit organization advocates! The purpose of the summit was to bring together Knoxville stakeholders to share our collective work, better understand our challenges and identify key action steps to increase the overall effectiveness of our communitys efforts to eliminate violence-related deaths and increase opportunities for success for our boys and young men of color. Knox County Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin, Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch, Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre, Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen, U.S. Attorney Bill Killian and Knox County Public Defender Mark Stephens each presented statistics, ideas and anecdotes about addressing the local challenge. You cant have hope without a diploma, Irwin said. My heart is with you. Rausch presented statistics showing that about 70 percent of violent offenders and victims are ages 18-34. McIntyre shared data showing that African-American boys are especially economically disadvantaged, which mirrors a TCAP proficiency gap. And Allen summed up her offices mission: We want to be tough on crime, smart on prevention. But the main speaker, Kwabena Miller, offered his personal lifes story - growing up as a displaced child, joining a gang, becoming the muscle for drug traffickers and doing multiple stints in prison before having a life-changing epithany. Its not that I wanted to be tough, he said. The gang offered a sense of family, and I wanted to be a part of something. This was my opportunity. About five years later, gang violence killed his best friend, and he was facing another term in prison. It occurred to him: I never had my own place, I never had a child. Id never been in love. I never traveled. I never lived. So Miller changed his life. He found Jesus and is active with Overcoming Believers Church, bought a home and is a KAT bus operator. There is hope, he told the crowd.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 19:29:48 +0000
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