To stem gun violence, Fresno pastor calls on City Council to support Advance Peace
My name is Pastor B. T. Lewis II of The Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church located in the southwestern part of our city. I am writing because I believe that our city should continue to support Advance Peace Fresno financially and morally.
Advance Peace has proven to be a tremendous asset to the reduction of violence in our city. It would be a grave mistake to discontinue our support and funding for this program. It has been proven through programs like Neighborhood Watch, Night Walks, Take a Stand, Stop the Violence, and other community-based, crime-prevention efforts that successful policing is enhanced when officers are in partnership with community organizations of this nature.
Advance Peace is designed to reach deeper into our community than traditional programs and change cultural norms that lead to choices and decisions that result in the death of our children and a life of incarceration. Our community needs Advanced Peace. No other agency past or present has the ability to reach African-American teens and young adults who have a propensity to commit violent acts in our community.
We need law enforcement. Public safety is critical to everyone in our city. But in addition to punitive systems that hold people accountable for their actions, we equally need systems of intervention and prevention that can curb violence before it happens. That is Advance Peace.
Some people may have a problem with the fact that Advance Peace is 100% African-American focused. The African-American experience in Fresno and in this country on a daily basis places us at a disadvantage that is so severe that most areas of life our community need a concentrated focus to recover from centuries of disenfranchisement and oppressive biases that have chipped away and, in many cases, destroyed the fabric of our families.
To quote a dear friend, “Our children don’t have a chance.” We need Advance Peace.
Advance Peace gives us an opportunity to think outside of traditional orthodoxy and employ a more personal approach to violence prevention that focuses on restoring the life of the person and their families, breaking generational cycles of violence, death, incarceration, and trauma. The organic growth of violence is a serious problem in our community and in our nation.
Albert Einstein said: “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
Our commitment to orthodoxy can be a blessing and beneficial, but it can also be a hindrance to our ability and willingness to explore new opportunities to solve critical problems. We need Advance Peace.
Having grown up in a small town in Texas, I have great respect for the Fresno Police Department’s work in our community and their willingness to meet with and listen to the concerns of residents.. It would be unwise to ignore and invalidate the contribution of Advance Peace in our community.
In 2021 Advance Peace served 17 young adult African-American males whose average age was 23 years old. This does not include the number of contacts made through community events and word of mouth engagements in our community. Through these contacts Advance Peace was able to provide assistance to parents, people who were unemployed, in need of housing and food insecure, people facing court cases, victims and their families, and people transitioning from jail-prison to building a new life in our community. We need Advance Peace.
Advance Peace provides one on one and small group training on job readiness, food assistance, mentoring in regard to housing, DMV license acquisition, family support, developing adult and family values, anger management, and walking people through a justice system that for African-Americans begins from a negative position heavily influenced by racial bias. The program also provides cognitive behavioral therapy, culturally responsive counseling, life coaching, and a life-map process for each of their fellows. We need Advance Peace.
I know that Advance Peace has made some mistakes and errors in judgment. But mistakes and errors in judgment are common for new ventures and uncharted areas. The future of this program should not hinge on rumor and innuendo. It is simply too valuable to dismiss without further consideration. We have never had a program that has taken on the responsibility and level of intervention in our community as does Advance Peace. I think it would be a significant mistake to “throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
My recommendations:
1. I am asking that city administration, council representation, our chief of police select members of the Advance Peace Advisory Committee and Leadership, and select community members to address concerns and develop a strategy with additional checks and balances for that preserves the integrity of the program.
2. I would also suggest that Advance Peace seek funding beyond the scope of the city that would go directly to EOC for Advance Peace and not depend on city approval.
I am asking that this council please fund Advance Peace. I pray for your favorable consideration.
We need Advance Peace.