National urban violence summit set for Ohio

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Community activists hoping to find solutions to urban violence and poverty around the country will have a national summit in Cleveland to discuss those and other problems facing U.S. cities.

Dozens of community groups, faith-based leaders, activists and gang-prevention specialists from cities including Detroit, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Chicago are expected to attend the event, The Plain Dealer reported.

Religious leaders, grass-roots organizations and anti-violence experts who deal with gun violence, gang activity, teenage pregnancy, economic development and other problems are organizing the four-day International Urban Peace, Justice and Empowerment Summit. It will begin May 30 at Cleveland State University.

Organizers say Cleveland is the perfect meeting place partly because it has a history of progressive political movements such as the election of Carl Stokes, the first black mayor of a major U.S. city.

Current gang members and former ones also will attend the conference. The outreach groups hope to develop policy that can be implemented in cities across the U.S. to especially help minorities and those living in poor communities.

The event also marks the 20th anniversary of a conference in Kansas City in 1993 that organizers say was the first national gang summit.