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ACTION calls for public to take stand
YOUNGSTOWN
Members of clergy and the faith-based community-organizing group ACTION are asking the public to join with them in reclaiming the city after a double homicide on the South Side last week.
The Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods called a press conference Monday at the E.B. Family Life Center on Garland Avenue asking parents and others to take a stand against crime and violence after the killings of 20-year-old Pako Lacey and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Juanetta Franklin, in the middle of the day in a crowded South Side neighborhood.
The deaths brought the city’s homicide total to 12 for this year, and half of the victims were 21 or younger. There were four homicides at this time in 2011.
The Rev. Dr. Lewis Macklin II, senior pastor of Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, said it is hard to believe multiple gunshots went off in the neighborhood and no one heard anything.
He said the first step to stopping such violence is to come forward and work with police in catching those responsible.
“That is just unconscionable. We can no longer bury our heads in the sand and act like these things do not exist,” he said.
The Rev. Joseph Fata, pastor of St. Luke Church, Boardman, said the community must hold parents responsible for the actions of their children and get to the root causes behind the violent acts of some young people.
“We all get upset when something like this happens and there is an outcry, but we have to focus on what causes these problems,” he said. “Just being upset and screaming and yelling is not going to address the problem. We have to back up and see how these young people ended up in that position.”
The Rev. Rosalyn Mitchell- Martin, pastor of Price Memorial AME Zion Church, said the coming summer is a good time to start addressing the problems by giving the young people something constructive to do in their spare time. She said refocusing their energy will leave little time for unsavory activity.
Rev. Rusty Wills, pastor of Kingdom Community Church, Struthers, said all the community work is a good start, but no concrete changes will take place until groups like ACTION can pull more people back to the church and help draw them closer to God.