Newark Residents to Rally Round the Clock for Peace

A 24-hour peace rally Friday is aimed at reducing the gun violence that has claimed nearly 20 lives so far this summer in New Jersey's largest city, according to Newark Councilman Ras Baraka, who's sponsoring the event.

"We're trying to promote peace and community togetherness," he said. "We need to do it in a dramatic force to dramatize how serious this issue is for us."

During a news conference Monday in Newark to announce the event, Baraka's chief of staff, his brother, Amidi Baraka, said the goal of the first-ever, 24-hour rally is to reach city residents — especially youths — by using artists and activists to meld hip-hop culture with a peaceful message.

Twenty-year-old Mad Minister Cameron X, of East Orange, is one of more than a dozen peace advocates scheduled to perform. X said he's written five poems and roughly 30 songs in the past two years about nonviolence. [Click here to listen to X perform one of his poems.]

"I'm trying to teach people with my poems," he said. "It's going to be a long journey, but we're going to do what we need to do to help the people."

Hakim Green, 42, of East Orange, is a hip-hop artist with the music group Channel Live. He is also the rally's host, "We want to use hip-hop and show it's how we live. It's a cultural phenomenon used as a unified force for safety and progress."

Amidi Baraka said the rally starts at 6 p.m. at the corner of Clinton and Treacy avenues in Newark's South Ward — the neighborhood Ras Baraka oversees as councilman.

Some residents, though, are skeptical of the event.

"Twenty-four hours means nothing," said Kelly Stern, 35. "What happens after that 24 hours?"

Stern joined her sister, Javita Thomas, 36, Monday where kids turned in play weapons for basketballs, hockey sticks and games. The program was a block from Baraka's conference in the South Ward.

The two women, both transplants to Newark within the past three years, said they've seen crime increase.

"There's just too much violence," said Thomas. "The shooting and killing is getting out of control."

So far, gun violence has left 18 people dead in the city this summer. This past weekend, four men were shot and killed in Newark — two early Saturday morning and two early Sunday morning. Saturday's killings ended a 20-day, murder-free period in the city.

Stern and Thomas said the solution to end violence is parenting.

"Parents need to take accountability," said Stern. "The state of our youth is sad because they just don't understand."

During the toy gun program, Newark Mayor Cory Booker called the 24-hour rally "terrific." He said the city needs more community leaders and less people "on the sidelines."

Donna Jackson, a community activist, said she's confident the 24-hour event will help raise awareness, "Incidents are down for the month of August and we're hoping and praying this is a turnaround."

Click here to listen to X perform one of his poems.