A new march event planned for Saturday in Peoria aims to raise awareness of community involvement in efforts to prevent violence.
Antonio Lipscomb is the president of Next Level Academies, a trade organization that teaches people skilled trades through partnerships with local unions. He’s also the organizer of the new We Are Here: Stop The Violence March planned for this weekend.
“The event is a passion of mine, understanding violence in particular areas of the city and how there’s a need and an outcry for this violence issue to be, I would say, a priority,” Lipscomb said. “Oftentimes, when we see different individuals demonstrating certain behaviors, it seems as though it becomes the norm and that’s what we don’t want.”
The first We Are Here: Stop the Violence march starts at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in front of city hall and ends at South Matthew Street with a resource fair and celebration.
Lipscomb said the event serves the dual purpose of raising awareness and making sure people know what resources are available to them as they pursue those goals.
“The poverty is a problem and the hopelessness of how people feel when they live in certain areas and go to certain schools, when they work at certain places and whatnot,” he said. “If the poverty is there, that’s definitely going to become an issue for people to pretty much trust each other in that environment.”
Lipscomb says he does believe public officials, like the city council, mayor and police departments, are doing everything they can to prevent violence. But he hopes starting the march in front of city hall will underline the public’s willingness to participate in those efforts.
“We have strong African American black men stepping up to the plate, just leading organizations and we want the city to know that we would like a seat at the table to help bring about a solution,” Lipscomb said. “And it’s not just limited to Black men.”
Lipscomb said he felt summer was the right time to schedule a new event.
“We know that tempers flare a little more. I think even the stress and the domestic violence and people trying to figure out how they can come up with money for school and maybe have a vacation and try to have some relief in life,” he said. “I see that around this time of year, especially through family gatherings and what-not.”
