Culture of Peace: Fierce Urgency of Now collaboration calls for peace

The “Fierce Urgency of Now’ Peace collaboration invited the public to their Violence Prevention Strategies and Solutions (S.O.S.) symposium to share and raise awareness to bringing peace instead of violence to the streets of Metropolitan Atlanta.

The symposium brought together highly esteemed violence prevention practitioners, educators, researchers, community and faith leaders, youth, and civic and corporate leaders to share their perspectives and recommendations to address violence in Metro Atlanta.

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for kids and teens in the United States surpassing car accidents, drug overdoses and cancer, according to a 2023 New England Journal of Medicine study.

In Fulton County, according to a 2023 Emory University report, which tallied by far the highest youth crime rates according to GBI statistics, aggravated assault offenses increased from 362 offenses committed per 100,000 youth 17 and younger in 1990 to 588 offenses per 100,000 youth in 1993. Juvenile weapons offenses in Fulton increased from 203 offenses per 100,000 youth 17 and younger in 1990 to 359 per 100,000 youth in 1993.

Data collected from the medical examiners’ offices in the five counties indicate firearms were involved in the deaths of 157 youth 17 and younger between 1989-1993.

Fierce Urgency of Now is a faith-led community-based collaborative with a call to action for peace in Metropolitan Atlanta. The collaborative members include committed stakeholders who are addressing the growing incidences of violence through development of a 10-Point Plan for Peace. Partners serve on their ‘Champions for Peace Task Force’ to develop the 10-Point Plan.

Activities in the symposium included strategy focused sessions with community residents and organizations and academic, civic, and corporate representatives.

Founder of Grieving Relatives In Every Violent Event (GRIEVE) Betty Maddox Battle said the importance of this call to action is to cultivate a long-term productive plan to ensure young Black men and kids are off the streets and to create peace.

For 25 years, she served the community as a Crime Scene Investigator in the Special Investigation Division of the DeKalb County Police Department and five years as a Public Education Specialist with DeKalb County Fire Rescue.

Although she may appear well prepared for the worst that can happen, nothing could have prepared her for the tragic news that her oldest child had been murdered. This was her fate in May 1993 when her son, Michael Maddox, 25, was shot four times by a sixteen-year-old on Metropolitan Avenue.

The shooter was sentenced to 30 years.

In response to her devastating loss, Battle founded the homicide support group, Grieving GRIEVE. As founder, she advocates for the fundamental rights of victims of crimes with compassion, honesty, dignity, and most importantly love.

Battle said her reasoning and purpose in getting involved was due to the loss of her son.

“I’m here to make a difference and to be a part of the solution as well as part of the problem, so no other mother will have to go through what I’ve been through,” she said. “I’ve retired out of law enforcement, and I’ve experienced both aspects, the victims and the judicial aspect.”

Battle says she tells people all the time it doesn’t hurt until it hits home, and they have spent over $557 billion a year on gun violence prevention.

“It’s happening disproportionately in the Black community, so we’ve got to try to solve this problem with each other, because it’s our children that are being murdered,” she said.

Additionally, Battle also said to build community is important and the community needs more help through the work of the Atlanta Voice, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and other news media to get the word out.

As for advice for people who have lost children due to gun violence, Battle says to look within spiritually.

“I don’t have a one particular religion that I would refer to, but all of us are Black individuals and spiritual as a whole and sometimes, we have to get to ourselves and pray from within and ask for strength from on high, wherever that comes from,” she said.

The strength is on the inside of us, Battle says.

The ‘Fierce Urgency of Now’ 10-Point Plan is as follows:

Implementation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Safer States Agenda:

1.     Establish a Georgia Office of Violence Prevention in accordance with the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention Guidelines

2.     Allocate Violence Prevention Funds in Local Budgets

3.     Convene Champions of Peace Violence Prevention Advisory Council

4.     Develop a Multi-County Metropolitan Atlanta Violence Prevention Plan

I Identification and Coordination of Partnerships

5.     Mobilize Faith leaders to support the Violence Prevention Movement

6.     Collaborate with institutions of Higher Education

7.     Hold media and entertainment industries accountable

8.     Seek support from philanthropic and corporate communities

Community Violence Intervention & Prevention Organization and Wraparound Services Support

9.     Establish systems of support for Child Victim Identification Program (CVIP) and Wrap-Around service organizations

10.  Implement violence prevention strategies in Metropolitan Atlanta K-12 Schools

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