This is a simple proposal – Create a presence of peace in places of violence throughout Baltimore on December 31st 2017.
At 2pm on December 31, 2017, people of good will and intent gather at places touched by homicide during 2017 to remember the deceased, to comfort the affected, to engage with each other and the neighbors, and to leave a temporary mark at those places for others to witness.
The last day of 2017 falls on a Sunday, so many of you will be free of work commitments and available to engage this effort. This presents an important opportunity.
We hope that many people will be present at each of 179 sites in the city, and that with a significant and diverse (ethnic, faith, economic) group of people in one place, at one time, some level of engagement will occur. We rely on a positive perspective of human nature, along the lines of a Martin Luther King, Jr observation – “I am convinced that men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they don’t communicate with each other, and they don’t communicate with each other because they are separated from each other.” (Cornell College address, 1962). This is about taking that first step to remove separation.
To be effective, it means thousands of people at hundreds of places – and there are specific challenges to ensure that no place is left without a presence and all places are kept safe. There are no prescribed activities or tasks other than “be present.” In conversations at these places throughout the city, perhaps some new ideas will develop, and the best of those may take root and spread to other communities.
On December 31, 2017, please be present at one of these places. Click a circle on the map for site details and a link to an RSVP page. Come now, and let us reason together with a greeting of peace, and repair the world.