PETITION REQUESTING PUBLIC HEARING
To The Residents of the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County:
Enclosed you will find 2 Petitions requesting Public Hearings before the City and County Councils relative to gun violence in the Black community. In order to combat violence, we must make significant efforts to create peace! Now is the time for us to effectively work together on increasing the peace in our communities. However, Peace comes with a cost and is no surprise. We cannot sit back any longer and accept the complacency of our community leaders, elected officials and the hopelessness of our youth, (who by the way do not expect to live past 21) govern the outcomes of our future.
We, the community, our family and our friends must join together and - Using the Power of our voices - show up to the places that matter like political public debates, School Board meetings, City and County council meetings to deliver our collective contingency plan that we need them to support our efforts to bring peace to our communities. We need to let everyone know that we will support those who support us and that we will collectively take our cry all the way to Washington to push for legislative change. We will display unity in our efforts and we will continue until peace occurs. To Promote peace we have to address Social Injustice.
In order to request the Public Hearing we need to circulate a petition, get signatures from City of Pittsburgh residents who are registered to vote and take it down to the City Clerk. The City Clerk forwards it on to Ms. Darlene Harris who is President of City Council, and a date is selected for the public hearing. While only 25 signatures are needed, what power and unity will be demonstrated when we collect hundreds of signatures behind this Public Hearing!
In order to request a public hearing before County Council, we need to collect signatures as well. Since City of Pittsburgh residents are also a part of Allegheny County, you can have persons sign both petitions. In addition, if you live in the surrounding boroughs use the County Petition to collect signatures for the Public Hearing before the Allegheny County Council.
I am asking you to circulate this petition and get signatures and bring your signed petitions to a Strategy meeting on January 29, 2011 at Noon at the CEA Culture Center 7143 Fleury Way, the former Rite Aid Building. At this meeting we will collect the petitions, and define the tactics we will use to market the public hearing, and create clear and specific goals to be achieved during the public hearing.
Come and support this grass roots effort. Over the years we have been collectively silent on this issue; now it is time to be collectively engaged for action. Throughout our history, any time change has occurred, it has been because of the efforts of those affected. Violence in the Black community has become an epidemic.
WE ARE LOSING VALUABLE FUTURE CONTRIBUTORS AND LOVED ONES NEEDLESSLY. IF WE WANT PEACE IN OUR COMMUNITIES – WE HAVE TO CRAFT THAT PEACE OURSELVES, AND WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE IN AUTHORITY JOIN US IN THIS EFFORT!! IT IS UP TO US! THE TIME FOR ACTION IS HERE AND NOW! IF NOT YOU - WHO, IF NOT NOW WHEN.
PEACE ALLIANCE NETWORK CONTINUES TO BRING TO THE FOREFRONT THE ROOT CAUSES AFFECTING OUR COMMUNITY AND THE BY PRODUCT – VIOLENCE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
CURRENTLY THERE ARE FIVE WORKING FOCUS GROUPS OF THE PEACE ALLIANCE NETWORK – · YOUTH, · MOTHERS AND FAMILLIES, · POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, · PEOPLE OF FAITH, and · EDUCATION.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BECOMING A MEMBER, OF THE FULL ALLIANCE OR ANY FOCUS GROUP PLEASE CALL 412-371-3689 EXT. 14. THE NEXT FULL MEETING OF THE PEACE ALLIANCE NETWORK IS SET FOR JANUARY 29, 2011.
CLICK HERE to download Petition