Tyler Non Violence Summit
Posted/updated on: August 14, 2013 at 2:31 am
TYLER — Tyler residents gathered Monday evening at Greater New Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church for a Community-Wide Summit on Non-Violence. The meeting occurred the same day police announced that Rakheem Goldstein, 20, had turned himself in for the July shooting death of Bri’ana Young, 20. The shooting was the incident that spurred the nonviolence summit.
Rev. Jerome Milton hosted the meeting, calling for a community-wide “character academy” that begins in the home. Attendees made suggestions including stronger alliances between police and neighborhoods, parental education, and consulting youth about solutions. There was also a testimony from a former gang member who is now a minister.
The meeting also featured a video presentation from a project called Lift Up America about its Ambassadors of Compassion effort. Ambassadors of Compassion is currently being discussed with local school administrators and others in the community, and initial response is said to be positive. Rev. Milton says another meeting will be scheduled in the near future as a follow up to Monday’s summit.
