With youth violence on the minds of many in the District, organizers put on an event Saturday to focus on ways to combat that violence, held in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
D.C.’s Attorney General Brian Schwalb, D.C. police Chief Robert Contee, the new Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Lindsey Appiahand other city officials as part of a series of discussions about youth violence - its perpetrators and victims.
“The narrative in our city is that kids are out of control really means Black and brown boys are out of control, and that narrative is untrue," Schwalb said.
The young people in attendance didn’t come to be judged. Instead, they were there to have their concerns, fear and strengths heard.
We're making it easier for you to find stories that matter with our new newsletter — The 4Front. Sign up here and get news that is important for you to your inbox.
“I feel like adults should understand that they were also in our shoes at one point,” one teenager who spoke on a panel said.
But the youth also talked about something more unique to their generation, something no teen or adult should have to contend with: PTSD. The effect of the violence that prompted the event also prompted them to find ways to cope.
One teen panelist said they write out their feelings on composition books, and another said they change their algorithm on social media to focus on their interest in starting a business.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
For Contee, those aren't anomalies. Youth arrests are actually down - but amid the declining arrests, there was increasing seriousness.
“First offense incident with a gun, or first offense incident where it's homicide or robbery," Contee said. "So these incremental things suggest to me that while there is an issue, there’s still hope."
The idea behind the MLK birthday observance summit is to inform those narratives with first-hand information. As one teen said, “You really gotta be from here to know what’s going on.”
Organizers hope this will help convey the situation, and be the beginning of a solution.
“This little voice that you kept saying didn’t matter, it’s angry and it’s louder now and it’s an adult, so now you scared,” a panelist said.
