Community Leaders, Advocacy Groups Launch 'Boycott Black Murder' Campaign To End Gun Violence
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Gun violence victims and community leaders announced a new partnership to end gun violence Saturday.
Victims of gun violence, the formerly incarcerated and those just tired of the endless bloodshed gathered in front of the Barclays Center, coming together to launch a campaign called "Boycott Black Murder."
"The community is tired. We are emotionally drained. We experience so much trauma over the years," said Anna Miranda, whose husband was killed in a shooting.
Alarmed by the rise in children getting killed by guns, a collation of community advocacy groups gathered to announce a new partnership between violence interrupters, elected officials and families to saturate the most impacted communities and demand support from local businesses as well as social media platforms.
"I want to utilize those relationships to advocate for this work, to promote this work. The same way you would promote a Wu-Tang Clan tour, we're going to promote Boycott Black Murders tour. We're going on a tour to each individual project," Mysonne Linen, founder of Boycott Black Murder, told CBS2's Christina Fan.
According to the NYPD, there's been at least 1,262 shootings this year with 1,517 victims.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams says the key to deceasing those statistics is by giving less funding to police and giving more resources to community advocacy groups that have been proven to work.
"We cannot equate public safety simply with policing. All we're asking is for the rest of the things that create public safety in communities to be funded and put in the infrastructure," he said.
"We're telling everybody that you have to give us the same platform. You got to give us the same vision, the same publications," Linen said.
Those who served time for gun violence say they are now leading to charge to solve it.
