Arts to End Violence Gallery Opening TOMORROW

The Arts to End Violence Gallery Opening has arrived! Come to the Ron Taylor Gallery at 1160 St. Johns Place (between Kingston and Albany avenues) tomorrow from 6:30 to 9pm to view beautiful anti-violence artwork submitted by adult and youth artists. Refreshments will be served, photo portraits  will be taken, and live music will be played.This free event will run rain or shine, and ALL ARE WELCOME! If you are not able to attend, the gallery will be open at select times until June 7th.

For a preview of the some of art in the gallery, click here to see our tumblr.

The Kingston Avenue Festival is on SATURDAY

The Kingston Ave Festival is this Saturday, May 18th, from 12-5pm. The Festival will be on Kingston Ave between Pacific and Bergen.

The Festival promises to be a day of excitement, featuring live music, dance, and arts activities, a life sized chess set, skateboarding, resource tables, a pie-eating contest, the Brower Park dog parade, an anti-violence art display, facepainting, and MUCH MORE! It will be a great event for children, teens and adults. There will be something for everyone! The Festival is a partnership of the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center, the Kingston Avenue Merchants Association, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and the Department of Transportation. We hope to see you there!

If you are interested in volunteering to help with set-up, clean-up, or anything in between, please contact Ariana Siegel ar siegelar@crownheights.org or 718-773-6886.

"We Can't Let Fear Rule Our Lives"

Second Community Conversation Examines Neighborhood Interactions Around Violence

More than 30 Community members came out to participate in a second S.O.S. “Community Conversation” on Wednesday, May 8th at Bethany Methodist Church. The event was second of three gatherings to discuss causes, effects and antidotes to urban violence. Wednesday night's conversation focused on analyzing common reactions to instances of high-level and low-level violence.

To examine these reactions, participants engaged in a role plays portraying two scenarios. The first was set in a grocery-store scene in which one shopper was profanely insulted by another shopper. The second scenario, set in an apartment building, involved one resident attempting to engage another in conversation about a shooting in front of the building the night before, and the second neighbor dismissively refuses to engage. Lively discussion followed, in which the entire group examined the interactions depicted in the role plays and shared insights.

Participants noted the many, complex barriers to community building in Crown Heights; yet several still emphasized the importance of simple, positive interaction. “We have to relate to each other as humans,” Tiffany Murray, an S.O.S. volunteer and faith-based leader, said. “We must be courageous, and allow ourselves to be vulnerable. We can’t let fear rule our lives.”

The conversation concluded with an examination of the benefits of direct short term action, as well as action that can transform the neighborhood's social culture to reduce the tendency toward violence.  Rabbi Bob Kaplan, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, commented, “It reminds me of the lessons of Smoky the Bear; it’s easier to prevent fires than to put them out.”

The third Community Conversation of this series will be held in June, with details to be determined. Click here to learn more about upcoming CHCMC/S.O.S. events in May, including our Arts to End Violence block party on May 18th and gallery opening on May 23rd.

"Community Conversations" Continue Wednesday