PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Busloads of people from around Pennsylvania, victims of violent crime and family members of those who have been killed, rallied on the state Capitol steps in Harrisburg on Tuesday morning. They’re trying to put pressure on lawmakers to do more to stop cycles of violence and to give survivors all the support they need.
The event, called Survivors Speak Pennsylvania, and hosted by Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, comes just three days after a mass shooting incident in Philadelphia killed three and wounded 11.
Valerie Todd of Bridesburg, who was among a group of anti-violence advocates representing Philadelphia leaving from Port Richmond, said she spent years in jail.
“I just stayed in the clutches of addiction and crime and abuse,” Todd said.
But she turned her life around, she said. And something else she hopes turns around soon is what she calls a culture of gun violence.
“A lot of people feel like ‘I need a gun to protect myself.’ ‘Where I’m from you can’t be without a gun’” she said. “There’s a message for these young kids that killing somebody is a badge of honor.”
The anti-violence advocates are urging Pennsylvania lawmakers to act on a set of proposals intended to stem crime and help victims. Among their priorities are efforts to tackle the causes of crime and to aid survivors through housing and employment support, compensation and programs to reduce recidivism.
Video: Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice is a national network of anti-violence advocates
Ray Cintron of North Philadelphia is the first to acknowledge the mistakes that he has made. Growing up poor and just trying to survive, he got involved in “the street life,” he said.
Cintron says he managed to break that cycle of violence, but he knows how hard it is for far too many other people to do the same.
“The drug dealers, all around, everywhere, which creates the gun violence. People selling drugs on other people’s territory. I’ve been a part of that, myself,” he said, “and I really know from the inside out. You really want to eliminate that little by little.”
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Nicole Dorrell from Tacony, a survivor of abuse, said creating change requires everyone to participate, so violence is no longer the answer.
“Too many of these things are norms. To get beat up by your boyfriend or husband is a norm. To walk down the street and see somebody with a gun or somebody in a fistfight is a norm,” she said. “That’s not normal!”
Dorrell says such violence affects everyone.
“You should be able to come out of your house in peace, barbecuing in your backyard, and not have to worry about a bullet flying by you,” she said. “It’s about education. It’s about people standing up. Stop being afraid and start using your voice.”
Sad reminders of the violence Dorrell and her companions are rallying to stop are scattered across the city. The shopping center parking lot where the group boarded the bus to Harrisburg is just blocks away from the spot where a pregnant woman was shot and killed on Saturday.
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Robert Rooks, a leader in the effort, told rally goers it's been a decade since he and others set out to change a system in which they felt victims of crime were not heard or seen and were routinely left out of discussions on justice policy making.
“There's no better time than now to listen to victims,” Rooks said, bringing up the Philadelphia shooting. “What should we do? Well, I have an answer for you: Listen to victims.”
Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice claims nearly 5,000 members in Pennsylvania and more than 90,000 across the United States. The group will host similar Survivors Speak events at state capitols in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.