Congress Cleaver to Call on African-Americans to Stand Up and Stop the Violence

Press Release

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II will join community leaders Saturday, July 29, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center in Kansas City to call on African-American youth to speak out. The meeting follows a weekend in which 11 young people were shot in one incident -- two of them killed and two still in critical condition. Nineteen people total were shot in this weekend's violence. The press conference will focus on encouraging African-Americans to come forward to report crimes.

"These are our neighborhoods, these are our children; we cannot remain silent. I understand the fear of retaliation by those who know something about these random senseless crimes, but if we do not speak out we can not take back our streets," said Cleaver.

"Seventy-six percent of violent crime nationwide is black on black crime. The African-American community needs to take responsibility for reducing the violence in our streets. It is time for African -Americans to be accountable. It is time for the community to stand up and remember the legacy of the mothers and fathers of the Civil Rights struggle. Violence begets violence -- what Dr. King referred to as the path to mutual destruction. We have no choice but to stop this senseless cycle. Unless we do there is no hope of solving the other issues facing our community. If we do not stop the cycle, we may loose the community we worked so hard to build."

Anyone having information about last weekend's shooting is encouraged to call the tips hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477). A cash reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.

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