The annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation, held at the University Baptist Church last Thursday, awarded the achievements of the Rose Street Community Center and presented a panel discussion on the prevalence of murder in Baltimore City.
Youth co-coordinator Walker Gladden accepted the award on behalf of the center, which is located in East Baltimore.
The Rose Street Community Center was founded in 1996 by Elroy Christopher and Clayton Guyton, with the mission of fighting both violence and drugs in Baltimore.
Initially, the center was established as tutorial program for children. Today, it also serves as a rehabilitation facility for ex-felons, helping them re-enter into society.
The student group Season for Nonviolence (SNV) sponsored the event, along with Health & Human Rights Group (at School of Public Health), and the Black Student Union.
Season for Nonviolence, which is a part of the Center for Social Concern (CSC), is supported by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) and the Interfaith Center. According to the CSC Web page, SNV is "committed to promoting the voice of peace and non-violent change."
From Jan. 30 to April 4, which are the anniversaries of the deaths of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., respectively, the organization organizes activities and events that promote nonviolence.
Graduate student Vijay Parthasarathy, master of ceremony at the convocation and a member of Season for Nonviolence, provided the ceremony's introduction.
"Our purpose today is to create a peaceful climate in our neighborhoods," said Parthasarathy.
Rosemary "Rose" Varner-Gaskins, associate of Multicultural Student Affairs, said, "People do care -- I see this by the sea of faces I see today. We are honoring Dr. King's legacy by celebrating non-violence. I believe Dr. King would be proud for what we're trying to do."
The event also featured a panel discussion entitled "Is Homicide an Epidemic in Baltimore?" which discussed the problem of homicide in Baltimore.
The panel consisted of Professor Robert Lawrence of the School of Public Health; Chief Antonio Williams of the Baltimore Police Department; Clayton Guyton, co-founder of the Rose Street Center; Dr. Peter Beilenson, Baltimore City Health Commissioner; and Dr. Philip Leaf, director of the Center for Prevention of Youth Violence.
In 2004, there were 278 homicides in Baltimore, with 213 of these involving a handgun.
Beilenson said, "I have been Health Commissioner of Baltimore for 13 years, and homicide has been a problem for all these 13 years."
"The leading cause of death for 15-24 year-olds is death by gun," he added.
Beilenson commented that adequate housing, living wages, access to health care and education can help reduce homicide.
Leaf, who is a professor at Johns Hopkins in addition to his role as director of the Center for Prevention of Youth Violence, presented slides showing that specific areas in Baltimore have a high concentration of crime.
"We see clusters where there are drugs, HIV and violence," said Leaf.
Leaf also defined the term "epidemic" for the purposes of the discussion. He contended that usually an epidemic refers to the spread of a disease. However, the fact that Baltimore's homicide rate is unusually high compared to other cities is a characteristic of an epidemic.
Williams, head of the detective division of the Baltimore City Police Department, said, "More people are getting shot in the head." He also said, "Black men are an endangered species. We have to do things differently. Handcuffs aren't the answer. Our murders can be contributed to socioeconomic factors," said Williams, an officer of nineteen years.
Lawrence, associate dean for professional education and programs at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, talked about the significance of "structural violence."
According to Lawrence, "Structural violence is violence caused by the way society is structured -- it occurs when social order can cause suffering. We have to change political and social will."
Williams criticized the use of the word, saying, "[It] brings a negative connotation." For this reason, local politicians would not want to declare homicide an epidemic because "it doesn't look good for the City."
He stressed, "We need to go beyond homicide -- any loss of life is a problem. When people become desensitized, we have a problem."
