Op-Ed

Time for Young People to Stop the Violence

Published

11 years ago

June 8, 2015

By Julianne Malveaux
NNPA Columnist

I only recently embraced my status as an “elder.” Actually, I describe myself as an “episodic elder,” eager enough to take one of those lovely “senior” discounts when it serves my purpose, yet reluctant to turn in my party card. Elder status hit me upside the head, though, when a young woman told me she was “tired” of my generation preaching to hers.

I’m willing to stop preaching when young leaders step up. I applaud the Black Lives Matter movement, and am excited when those who are of not African descent join this movement. Still, I am waiting for the same young leaders to demand that their peers stop killing one another. I’m not embracing the right-wing hype about Black-on-Black crime, because they don’t address White-on-White crime. I’m not suggesting that the movement for police reform take a back seat to anything else (after all, we can have more than one movement at a time). I am suggesting, however, that young African Americans confront their peers and say “enough.” When “elders” say it, we are accused of preaching, but someone needs to say it.

What if the young people who abhor the killing of their friends and neighbors took shooters and their associates to task? What if they got up in their faces (in safe spaces, of course) and demanded to know why some of the young people who could contribute much to our community have now been massacred in the streets?

Some of those who lost their life were victims of mistaken identity, or trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time – some were little girls playing on their porches or sitting on Grandma’s lap. Some of them were simply walking home from school. Some of them were in the middle of simple misunderstandings and lost their lives because of an errant glare, a careless word. Some, like Charnice Milton, survived childhood on to go to her grave at 27.

Charnice was a talented, ambitious young reporter determined to tell the story of Southeast Washington, the part of the nation’s capital with the highest concentration of African Americans, the highest poverty rate and, more recently, the primary target of gentrification that pushes poor Black residents out of the homes in favor of young, affluent, White “urban pioneers.”

Her death was more than a faceless statistic – it was personal. Charnice was in my office fact-checking my most recent book for a few weeks, and she literally shimmered when she spoke of the stories she hoped to tell. She didn’t want to be the story, she wanted to tell the story of the least and the left out and of the people and organizations making a difference.

Charnice’s dreams of telling untold stories, along with her body, were tragically shattered when a depraved young man used her body as a human shield to protect him from a drive-by gunman.

Tears have been shed, hands have been wrung, and teddy bears and flowers have been left at the place where Charnice was slaughtered. A few days from now, someone else will be shot and the crying and handwringing will begin again. So far this year, 18 people have been killed in Ward 8 – almost one each week. The tears shed for Charnice are special tears for this amazing young woman, and yet they are the all-too-regular tears for lost life, for names that don’t quite make the news.

Some young leaders are quick to blame heartless police or and the right-wing obsession with crime – even while it is declining in some cities – but how many in Washington, D.C., in Baltimore (where 43 people were killed so far this year), in Harlem, in Third Ward or Fifth Ward Houston, in St. Louis, were killed not by cops, but people who look like us? At some point, we ought also be able to say, simply: Stop the killings!

According to the Pew Research Center, “While blacks are significantly more likely than whites to be gun homicide victims, blacks are only about half as likely as whites to have a firearm in their home (41% vs. 19%).”

Thanks to the National Rifle Association, there has been a proliferation of guns in our nation. According to federal figures, there were 310 million nonmilitary firearms in the United States as of 2009. That’s an average of nearly a gun per person in our nation of 318.9 million people, making us the most heavily armed country in the world. There are more gun sellers in the U.S. than McDonald’s or grocery stores.

Even so, the NRA opposes any legislation to reduce easy access to guns, and offer clichés such as “guns don’t kill, people do.” But guns don’t fire themselves. Meanwhile, young African Americans are mowed down like bowling pins, and except for the occasional reporting of an exceptional life, those who are killed are also ignored.

It is time for young leaders to take their peers on, to step up and demand that the violence stop. It is time for these leaders to demand that media outlets cover the cumulative loss of life and the individuals who have been killed, without tediously parroting the mindless and non-contextual conversation about Black-on-Black crime. I write this not as an episodic elder preaching, but as a seasoned warrior asking her esteemed young leaders to take this baton and run with it.

Julianne Malveaux is a Washington, D.C.-based author and economist. She can be reached at www.juliannemalveaux.com.

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Up to the Job: How San Francisco’s PRC Is Providing Work Opportunities That Turn Into Lasting Stability

Each year, PRC serves more than 5,000 clients through a wide range of programs. These include housing navigation, legal advocacy to ensure access to health and public benefits, supportive housing, job and life-skills training, and residential treatment programs.

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Black Leadership Council (BLC) Advocacy Day in Sacramento. BLC works to advance meaningful change through policy engagement to unlock the full potential of Black and low-income communities. Photo courtesy PRC.

Joe Kocurek | California Black Media

Seville Christian arrived in San Francisco in the 1990s from Kansas City, Mo., a transgender woman coming from a time and place still hostile to who she was.

San Francisco offered a deeper LGBTQ+ history and a more visible community of people like her, but even in a city known for acceptance, building a stable life from scratch was no small task.

After arriving in the city, she turned to Positive Resource Center (PRC) looking for work — and for a foothold — in a new place.

“PRC gave me my first job,” Christian said. “A simple gig — passing out magazines at the San Francisco Pride Parade.”

That first opportunity marked the beginning of a decades-long relationship with PRC, one that has seen Christian grow from client to valued employee, and eventually to policy fellow.

“Today, I’ve been with PRC for 27 years, going on 28,” she said.

Helping people access employment and build sustainable careers has been a cornerstone of PRC’s mission since its inception nearly four decades ago. In its most recent annual impact report, PRC served 443 clients through workforce development services, including career counseling, educational programs, hands-on training, and job search assistance. The average wage earned by PRC clients is $26.48 per hour — approximately 38% above San Francisco’s minimum wage.

To advance this work, organizations like PRC have benefited from funding through California’s Stop the Hate Program, which provides direct support to community-based organizations leading anti-hate initiatives.

Christian’s path was not without challenges. During some rocky years, she experienced periods of housing instability and struggled with addiction. Through PRC, she enrolled in a life-skills program that emphasized using her own lived experience as a means of helping others. The program helped set her on a path toward completing an associate’s degree and ultimately launching a career in case management.

“Today, whether someone is new to the city or has lived here their whole life, I know how to help them navigate to where they need to be,” Christian said.

PRC welcomed guests to their annual Open House in April, an evening dedicated to connection, reflection, and learning more about the programs and people working every day to support San Franciscans experiencing housing instability, unemployment, and behavioral health challenges.

While PRC was founded to serve people living with HIV, its mission has expanded over the decades to meet the needs of people with disabilities, individuals experiencing homelessness, and those facing mental health and substance use challenges.

According to PRC’s Chief of Public Policy and Public Affairs, Tasha Henneman, some of the organization’s earliest programs remain as vital today as they were at the start.

“Our emergency financial assistance program helped more than 1,200 people this year pay rent, cover medical bills, and keep the lights on,” Henneman said. “And over 1,400 people reached out for legal advocacy, resulting in more than $2.5 million in retroactive benefits unlocked.”

Beyond direct services, PRC is deeply committed to community empowerment and policy change. Programs such as the Black Leadership Council support community leaders in advocating for systemic reform, while the Black Trans Initiative focuses on addressing the unique challenges faced by Black transgender individuals.

A recent study from the Williams Institute highlighted findings that 71% of transgender homicide victims in the U.S. between 2010 and 2021 were Black and that nearly a third of the transgender homicides during that period were confirmed or suspected hate crimes. 

PRC’s direct and indirect services can be a lifeline for people experiencing hate and are an example of the resources people can get connected with through the state’s CA vs Hate hotline. 

PRC is now also producing a film project that centers the lived experiences of Black trans clients, including individuals like Christian.

“Our film highlights the health journeys and lived experiences of some of PRC’s Black trans clients,” Henneman said. “Our goal is to give voice, visibility, and agency to the participants — and to bring their stories, both harrowing and inspirational, to policymakers and the broader public.”

The film, expected to be released later this year, is directed by Yule Caise, with assistant director Zarina Codes, a Black transgender San Francisco resident.

Today, Christian continues her relationship with PRC as an ambassador, reflecting on a journey that began with a single job opportunity and grew into a lifelong commitment to service.

“Sometimes I’ll be riding the bus or standing in a grocery store, and someone will come up to me from a women’s shelter,” she said. “They’ll say, ‘Oh, Miss Seville, I just want to thank you. You really helped me with what I was dealing with.’”

She paused, smiling.

“And in those moments,” Christian said, “I think to myself, “Well!.”

A single word that sums up pride in a journey to find the best in herself.

Get Support After Hate:

California vs Hate is a non-emergency, multilingual hotline and online portal offering confidential support for hate crimes and incidents. Victims and witnesses can get help anonymously by calling 833-8-NO-HATE (833-866-4283), Monday to Friday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. PT, or online at any time. Anonymous. Confidential. No Police. No ICE.This story was produced in partnership with CA vs Hate. Join them for the first-ever CA Civil Rights Summit on May 11, 2026. More information at www.cavshate.org/summit.

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Building Bridges of Support: How AAPI Equity Alliance Is Strengthening California’s Anti-Hate Network

In May 2022, Patricia Roque said she and her parents were attacked after a late-night stop at a fast-food drive-thru in Southern California. After hitting their car, the other driver pulled alongside them and mocked them using a racist Asian accent. Then, he threatened to kill them. The situation escalated when the man returned while the family was waiting for police and assaulted Roque’s father, fracturing his rib and choking her mother before bystanders intervened.

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Patricia Roque (far right) pictured with her family at a Stop Asian Hate rally after her father's assault (far left). (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)

By Edward Henderson

When Aurelle Garner stepped out of her car one summer evening and saw a group of youths marching down her street, her stomach dropped.

What had begun as slurs hurled at her and her transgender children at a local park had escalated to violent pounding on their front door. Garner said that, before that incident, local law enforcement had repeatedly minimized her reports of harassment.

It was not until she contacted the Legal Department at The LGBTQ Center Long Beach that her family finally found help.

“I don’t know where we’d be if it weren’t for their help,” Garner, who lives in Southern California, said. “They didn’t just give legal advice. They helped us navigate a system that had otherwise dismissed us.”

Aurelle Garner, who received services from The LGBTQ Center Long Beach (Sponsored by AAPI Equity Alliance) to aid her transgender children. (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)

That support exists because The LGBTQ Center Long Beach does not work in isolation.

The Center partners with the AAPI Equity Alliance under California’s Stop the Hate program, a statewide coalition aimed at preventing hate and supporting survivors.

As the Los Angeles County Regional Lead, AAPI Equity Alliance works with the Center and dozens of other community-based organizations to connect people to legal aid, mental health services, and support. The programs also work in tandem with CA vs Hate, the state’s anti-hate hotline and virtual reporting system that connects people across California with organizations like the LGBTQ Center Long Beach – that provide support services

Garner’s experience illustrates the kind of harm that often falls outside the narrow legal definition of a hate crime but still leaves families traumatized and unsafe. It also shows how AAPI Equity Alliance’s leadership in the Stop the Hate ecosystem translates state funding and policy into real, on-the-ground support.

Patricia Roque (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)

“The police arrived long after it was over,” Roque told California Black Media (CBM). “By then, the damage was already done.”

The following day, Roque’s family was connected to the Filipino Migrant Center (FMC), a community-based organization that has received Stop the Hate funding and works within the broader AAPI Equity Alliance network. FMC provided immediate support — helping the family navigate legal options, organizing emergency financial assistance to cover medical bills and missed work, and offering emotional and community care while the criminal case unfolded.

“But the process is long and complicated. When you need help right away, that delay is a huge barrier. FMC was there immediately,”Rogue said.

The criminal case did not result in the accountability the family hoped for. But Roque said the support she received transformed her relationship to her community and to advocacy.

“Before this, I wasn’t involved in organizing at all,” she said. “Through this process, I realized my voice mattered. FMC helped turn something traumatic into a way to support others and push for change.”

Stories like Garner’s and Roque’s are part of a much larger reckoning that began at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across the country experienced a surge in harassment, discrimination, and violence fueled by racist rhetoric.

Filipino Migrant Center stands in solidarity against Anti-Asian Violence (Courtesy of AAPI Equity Alliance)

In response, AAPI Equity Alliance partnered with San Francisco’s Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University to launch Stop AAPI Hate in March 2020. Since then, the project has collected more than 9,000 reports nationwide documenting incidents ranging from verbal harassment and workplace discrimination to physical assault and child bullying.

“People tend to think about hate only when it turns violent,” said Kiran Bhalla of AAPI Equity Alliance. “But there are everyday acts of discrimination that people endure constantly. Without some kind of recourse, that harm just keeps going.”

The data helped spur unprecedented action in California. In 2021, the State Legislature passed the $165.5 million Asian Pacific Islander Equity Budget, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Of that total, $110 million was dedicated to victim services, education, and outreach. In August 2023, California invested an additional $40 million to expand California’s Stop the Hate program to serve a broader range of communities affected by hate and discrimination.

Today, the program supports roughly 100 nonprofit organizations statewide. As Los Angeles County Regional Lead, AAPI Equity Alliance coordinates grantees, facilitates cross-community collaboration, and helps ensure services reach those most impacted.

A recently released survey estimated that approximately 3.1 million Californians directly experienced hate, with Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders, Black or African Americans, and other communities of color, including Asian Americans, among those most likely to experience hate.

Black Californians, however, remain the most targeted group when it comes to reported hate crimes.

Nearly 48% of Asian American and Pacific Islander adults in California reported experiencing a hate incident in 2024, according to Stop AAPI Hate research. Most incidents were not criminal, leaving survivors with little recourse through the legal system.

That gap is precisely where AAPI Equity Alliance and its partners focus their work. The Stop the Hate framework prioritizes non-carceral responses, recognizing that policing alone often fails survivors and can further harm Black, brown, and immigrant communities.

Instead, the work centers on data and research, policy advocacy, community care, and public education. Through school-based programs, legal advocacy, emergency assistance, and survivor-centered services, the network aims to interrupt cycles of harm before they escalate.

For survivors like Garner and Roque, that support has made the difference between enduring trauma in silence and finding a path toward healing and collective power.

“When people experience hate, there’s often a profound sense of isolation,” Bhalla said. “This work helps people get back to school, back to work, back to their lives. It reminds them they’re not alone.”

Get Support After Hate:

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