Youngstown ministry group to hit the road with anti-violence message

The group is looking for singers, mimes, dancers and others to join the tour, which begins Saturday in Columbus.

YOUNGSTOWN — A city-based group is taking its anti-violence message nationwide.

Stopping the Violence, a three-year-old nonprofit organization, has established the Stopping the Violence Movement, an outreach ministry composed of singers, mimes, dancers and step teams, comedians and gospel, inspirational and positive musical poets.

Their first stop is Saturday in Columbus. They also plan trips to Atlanta in February and to Los Angeles in April. Additional appearances will be announced as the schedules are finalized, said Patricia Owens of Stopping the Violence.

Performances also will be shown on the group’s Web site, which is being developed.

Owens said that the group hopes to raise awareness of violence and encourage people to work together to develop a way to address it. The organization hosts a block party with an anti-violence theme each summer in the city.

In the past, they’ve also performed as part of the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. observance but decided to take the message on the road this year, Owens said.

“We need our cities and communities to come together to reach a solution for what we can do,” she said.

The Stopping the Violence Movement’s mission is “to meet people where they are, bringing young and old, families and communities together to raise the awareness of violence everywhere and of working together towards a plan of anti-violence to bring about a spiritual, physical, mental and economic change in the lives of individuals,” according to a news release from the group.

Those involved in the movement include Owens, Pauline Lucky, Candace Mauzy and Keith Logan Jr., all of Youngstown; and Warren resident and singer, Robb Loww; Antione Thomas of Gahanna, Ohio, Toledo residents Thomas Boyouce and Ken Marney and members from Atlanta.

The movement is auditioning for singers, mimes, dance and step teams and comedians. To audition and get involved or to provide monetary support for the effort, call (877) 701-2024.

Owens said that Stopping the Violence formed three years ago in response to violence in the community.