Caucus of Black Women To Host Anti-Violence Conference Named After Trayvon Martin

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The Greater Philadelphia Caucus of Black Women are taking action to eradicate the issues that plague the black community. The initiative, named the Trayvon Martin Project Conference, will focus on a wide range of issues from the violence plaguing urban areas to the education of children. The conference — taking place this weekend — is a collaborative effort of 20 independent organizations partnering with the International Caucus of Women of the African Diaspora.

The conference opened with a Friday evening Town Hall panel discussing school safety and violence prevention that includes Benjamin Crump — legal counsel for Trayvon Martin’s parents. ”The overall gist of the conference is to address violence occurring in the black community, ensure accountability, and to become more diligent in the prevention of violence,” said Monica Peters, spokesperson for the Trayvon Martin Project Conference. “These issues are very urgent. Sometimes the politics takes too long, and we don’t necessarily want to wait for policies or laws to be passed. We need to come together and address this problem now.”

On today, a series of lectures will be held at Jones Memorial Church on 3050 N. 22nd St. followed by a luncheon to raise funds for the Justice for Trayvon Martin Foundation. ”The Trayvon Martin case is what gets people’s attention,” said Peters. “If its white on black crime, we are a little more vigilant than when it is black on black in Philadelphia. We need to bring that issue back to the forefront. We’re still angry about Trayvon, however we need to be equally outraged when its black children killing other black children in our cities.”

Peters said the community organizations haven’t always pulled together. “We have a lot of great African-American groups, but we weren’t always getting together as a community,” she said. “We need to put interests aside and focus on our children and their safety. Everyone has great resources, and we just want to pull them together to face this issue as one.”

Reputable social commentator and scholar, Dr. Boyce Watkins has also launched an initiative in response to the black-on-black violence among black boys across the nation. The Building Outstanding Men and Boys Family Empowerment Series, will pre-launch in Atlanta, GA, at the illustrious Morehouse College. For more information on the initiative, click here.