A mix of both virtual and in-person events will lead up to a May 2022 ‘Peace Summit.’

Story and photos by Ashlee Green

Pastor Cornell Jones has a simple request: He wants to go to more graduations than funerals.

Jones spoke as part of a Pittsburgh Black Elected Officials Coalition (PBEOC) press conference at Byers Hall on the campus of CCAC on Oct. 7. The event brought elected officials and community leaders together to announce a year of activities promoting violence prevention led by a Violence Prevention working group. 

Gun violence trends are on the rise both nationally and statewide. According to The Washington Post, 2020 was the “deadliest year of gun violence in at least two decades.” The Pennsylvania Capital-Star reported that Pennsylvania saw a 48 percent increase in gun homicides from 2019 to 2020; Black people accounted for over 67 percent of these victims.

This is where PBEOC steps in. The Violence Prevention working group unveiled at the press conference is made up of the following organizations: Partner4Work, Poor Law, Neighborhood Resilience Project, City of Pittsburgh Group Violence Intervention, Operation Better Block, CCAC, Pittsburgh Police, United States Attorney’s Office, Public Safety, and My Brother’s Keeper. County Councilwoman Olivia “Liv” Bennett described it as the “connective tissue” for all siloed work toward violence prevention. She emphasized that the working group is not finalized, and said: “If you’re not a partner here today, you’re not a partner yet.”

State Rep. Ed Gainey, Democratic candidate for mayor, also spoke at the event, and used his time on the podium to remind Pittsburghers of one of the staples of his mayoral platform: a public health plan.

“I’ve always said that public safety is great, but it won’t improve public health,” said Gainey. “But public health will always improve public safety.” He continued:

“Our children didn’t create this culture, they inherited it… We look at them and we blame them, but now we have to help them,” he said.

Jones referenced the theme of this year’s nonviolence activities, “Reclaiming the Village,” and likened the City’s Group Violence Intervention program to “Voltron,” saying its members, which include mothers, coaches, and community leaders, are “… going to the places where [they] need to go to to counteract the disease of violence from spreading in our communities.”

“This isn’t just an outreach situation. This isn’t just a law enforcement situation. This is a village-at-large situation,” Jones said. “The challenge is making sure that we find your lane.”

Rev. Ricky Burgess referenced how more affordable housing, improvements to the social services system, and the availability of more jobs with a living wage will help improve the City’s equity as well as lower its violence:

“Every single life lost, every shot kid, every violent act is important and necessary and we must prevent all of it.”