If you’re like me, you’re probably asking yourself “What is the Peace by Piece Nonviolence Youth Group?” When I received an email about this event from the Katrina Warriors Yahoo Group and read it I had to know more. After all, these kids are representing our state this summer in South Africa as Young Ambassadors for Nonviolence and will be coming back to teach non-violent techniques and skills in New Orleans schools and communities. I wanted to know more so I emailed the group organizer, Ahmane’ Glover, and she was kind enough to send me all kinds of information which I’m going to share with you here. But before I cut and paste the info (rather than trying to reword it all which wouldn’t be nearly as effective) I want to put this little bug in your ear:

The group needs to raise $1800.00 to cover to the cost of travel for 3 students and 1 chaperone. You can be a part of this by making a donation on their webpage, Peace By Piece In Action. This is the season for giving and what better way to show confidence  in New Orleans’ youth than by contributing to this effort.

The students were selected based on the following criteria to participate in the “Young Ambassadors for Nonviolence” delegation from the United States to South Africa.:

• The completion of the Kingian Nonviolence Certification Program at the MLK Center in Atlanta, GA in July 2010. Each student had to pass both written and verbal examinations on material taught to them over the course of a week to become certified.
• Students must be high school or college age.
• Students have to be either positive or negative leaders in their communities.
• Students had to complete registration and provide 2 letters of recommendation.
• Based on the above list a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 10 students were chosen per state to represent the U.S. nonviolence delegation to South Africa.

The Young Ambassadors will join other high school students around the USA in the study of the struggle from Apartheid to Democracy. Ambassadors will participate in student forums in Johannesburg, Soweto, Durban and Cape Town South Africa.

New Orleans Delegation Student Profiles:

All three of these youth are working with AFSC as Nonviolence Leaders that train middle school and high school students on MLK’s principles of nonviolence using poems, skits, songs, dancing and much more. They are currently working in SciTech Middle School and St. Rita School in New Orleans.

Domonique Triggs (Male, 17)

1.      Attends New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School and has a 3.5 GPA.

2.      Wants to go to college to study biology pre-med and become an anesthesiologist.

3.      At school he is the manager of the robotics team and is the treasurer of the school’s student government.

4.      He is a member of The New Orleans Overcomers- a group of high school aged community organizers that formed after Hurricane Katrina. He has been a youth organizer for 3 years.

5.      Wants to help other young men change their lives with nonviolence.

6.      He believes that, “My life of nonviolence started because my brother was a local drug dealer ever since he was 16 years old. When I was young the only thing that I wanted was to be just like my oldest brother. Now I promised myself that I would never turn to drugs or violence for anything. ”

Rose Gilliam (Female, 18)

1.      Recently graduated from New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School.

2.      Wants to be a pediatric surgeon. Will attend Delgado Community College and study biology in Spring 2011.

3.      Violence was the only relief she found before turning to nonviolence.

4.      She is a youth poet that has been a member of a spoken word group called “Creative Forces.” She enjoys singing and using her talents to tell her story.

5.      She is a member of The New Orleans Overcomers- a group of high school aged community organizers that formed after Hurricane Katrina.

6.      She believes that, “Nonviolence plays a major part in my life because before turning to nonviolence my life was headed down the wrong path.”

Briana O’Neal (Female, 20)

1.      She has just won “Youth Change Maker Award” from Operation REACH on Oct. 16, 2010.

2.      She is a member of FYRE Youth Squad and Young Adults Striving for Success (YASS).

3.      Delivers speeches about the inequities of life in New Orleans.

4.      She has been in trouble in the pass for fighting and having a violent lifestyle.

5.      She believes that, “Living in the city of New Orleans, that rates number 3 in the highest number of murder rates, we must educate our peers about nonviolence. I hope that one day our city can reach its’ full potential  where every young person will have the chance to live past their eighteenth birthday, graduate from high school on time and where most of the jail cells will be empty of our youth and closed for good. “

Ahmane’ Glover (Female, 24) Group Organizer & Trip Chaperone

1.     She is a community activist with the American Friends Service Committee, a human rights non-profit, working with the youth peace building program.

2.     She graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a B.A. in Communications. She received a community service and academic scholarship.

3.      She believes that, “after my cousin was murdered for his jacket and my best friend’s brother was murdered for less than $30, the fight for the lives of our youth became real to me. Nonviolence is a saving grace and it transforms lives.”

 

Cocktails For A Cause is the first of 10 planned events leading up to the South Africa trip. Watch this space for continuing information.

“Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
~~~Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden, December 11, 1964.